What’s the Deal with Peanut Butter?

Sammy Sopka
Jan 15
4 min read

In October 2021, I embarked on a fitness journey with virtual trainer Sumeet Sahni* (1). My sister had done her workout and food program in the spring of that year, dropped 15lbs, looked incredible, and had never felt better – I wanted in. I was not at my least healthy state, but I was holding on to an extra bit of weight, the type that keeps you feeling just uncomfortable enough in your clothing.

So, in the fall of that year, I signed up, purchased a monthly gym membership, and committed to the nutrition plan. One of the changes that was made was switching from peanut butter to almond butter, and making sure it was the natural kind (meaning not processed or those with added oils, sugar, etc).

I did not like the natural almond butter. It was oily on top – and so you had to stir it each time you wanted to use it. Stirring was difficult because for one, it’s a large but skinny jar, so an adult hand didn’t really fit to help with stirring. And secondly, the almond butter was thick, and did not like combining with the oil. And thirdly, getting the oil to mix from the top all the way down to the bottom was nearly impossible. Which meant by the time to you made it to the bottom or the jar, you were left with a dry, thick, borderline (in my humble opinion) unusable paste that was (again, in my humble opinion) highly unenjoyable to eat. After a few years, I switched back to peanut butter, making sure to get the natural kind as well. This made me happy.

However, in December of 2023, when I started embarking on my holistic acne journey, I read every book and listened to every podcast I could get my hands on. Peanut butter was never a direct piece of conversation, but it seemed to come up in passing as foods to avoid. This made me sad. I preferred not to go back to my dry, pasty almond butter era, and so I decided to do a little digging. Unfortunately, what I found was that, indeed, peanuts, and furthermore peanut butter, can contribute to acne through a few methods.

First, peanuts contain an androgen-like material (2), (3), (4)**. As noted in many of my blog posts, androgens are part of the male hormones, and these have a direct link to the sebaceous unit of the skin. Androgens, or androgen like materials, stimulate the sebaceous gland to produce more oil. When we have an excess of oil in the skin, it becomes like a glue to trap more of the dead and exfoliating skin cells. Once this plug is created, the acne bacteria feeds on the excess sebum. Our immune system is then directed to the area to treat the bacteria, as a result of these four steps, acne becomes noticeable on the skin.

Secondly, peanuts are high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 6 is an important fatty acid to have in our system, however, the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fatty acids should be close to 2:1. Unfortunately, in the Western diet that is so prevalent here in the United States, it is not uncommon to see that ratio soar up to 20:1 (1). When Omega 6 fatty acids are very high without the counterpart of Omega 3, inflammation occurs, and the immune system is triggered to deal with this.

Our immune system’s response to inflammation is one of the reasons we develop acne. If we have chronic and systemic inflammation within our system, it encourages the immune system to work in overload against any little threat, acne included.

Another note is that peanut butter, or any nut butter for that matter, that is not organic (link to article about organic products and grass-fed meats) and natural, will include many acne and inflammation-inducing ingredients that can contribute to worsening breakouts. But always check the nutrition labels, because we truly want to consume whole food products with little to no additives. For instance, the Jiff Natural peanut butter ingredients include: peanuts (inflammation and acne inducing), sugar (inflammation and acne inducing), palm oil (inflammation and acne inducing), salt, and molasses (7).

Peanuts can be good for you, too. They’re a great source of healthy fats, they contain the highest amounts of protein of any nut, and they contain good levels of fiber. They can also help stabilize glycemic load (link to glycemic load article) when consumed with carbohydrates, and a full of antioxidants, which is known to be good for the skin (6).

Not everyone will experience acne breakouts with peanuts. As with any other food I discuss as possible sources of acne, I’ll encourage anyone embarking on their acne journey to try an elimination diet of peanuts or peanut butter, and once you’re clear of acne lesions, try adding it back in. If you develop new acne lesions, it is likely this is an inflammatory food for you, and it would be best to try other options. If you do not experience acne breakouts (you lucky bug), you can continue to consume and enjoy.

*Sumeet’s fitness program is incredible, by the way. Undergoing her 8-week program was the first step for me in learning how nutrition is the greatest link to achieving our fitness goals. My intense and lifelong sugar cravings were curved, and I’ve never felt the same need to consume sugar the way I did – as if I had 0 control – since finishing her program. Both my sister and I have continued her recommendations and workout plans years later, albeit tailoring some things to make it more sustainable to my daily life. She only trains women, but if you’re looking for some direction, I found her plan to be an excellent place to start.

**I want to make a note on this. I care deeply about having reputable sources before coming to conclusions. At the time of writing this, I had not found a medical journal article that discusses androgens or what the androgen-like material in peanuts are. I found many articles from blogs that discuss this, but none with medical journal sources for their conclusion. If so many anti-acne sites are noting this, my thought is that there must be some link. I also believe it is not harmful to try elimination diets, and so if you’re searching for your best anti-acne lifestyle, it may be worth giving up peanuts for the time period.

What’s the Deal with Peanut Butter?

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