When I was first diagnosed as a diabetic, my food pantry and refrigerator were full of foods that would not be good for a diabetic diet, especially since I was determined to reverse my diabetes through diet and other natural means.
However, I just hate wasting food.
I guess this was drilled into my being when I was just a kid.
All those mini-lectures about cleaning my plate and eating my peas because of the starving children in the world who didn't get a good meal still ring in my head whenever I attempt to toss anything.
So, instead of just throwing away my high carb snack foods like cookies, chips, and icecream I gave most of it away (not sure I'd do that again knowing what I now know).
However, some of the medium carb food was left sitting on the shelf.
This included a large jar of cheap generic brand peanut butter.
Now, when I went shopping the first time to stock up on items good for my new diabetic diet, I bought a jar of all natural almond butter.
But wouldn't you know it, one night when I was looking for a bedtime snack and had a real craving for something nutty, I had run out.
Disappointed, I pulled down that old cheap jar of peanut butter.
As I was slowly enjoying a spoonful of peanut butter, I started reading the ingredients and had a personal epiphony of sorts.
Not only did it have sugar (dextrose) that is obviously bad for a diabetic, it contained partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (rapeseed, cottonseed, and soy oil).
Now, I had been studying in depth what causes type 2 diabetes and how to reverse it.
So, the moment I read that this cheap peanut butter contained partially hydrogenated oil, I knew it contained TRANS FAT.
I knew it contained the poison introduced into our food supply in the 1920's that caused the sudden appearance and rapid increase of type 2 diabetes.
Disgusted, I immediately stopped eating it and threw out the rest.
It's amazing how bad something can instantly taste if you know it's poison! For those of you who are unaware that trans fat causes diabetes, let me quickly tell you why.
Trans fat is an artificially altered molecule that competes with and replaces the healthy omega-3 in our cell membranes.
This causes insulin resistance, i.
e.
type 2 diabetes.
Cell membranes containing trans fat are "stiffer" and less able to transport glucose across the membrane into the interior of our cells even if there is plenty of insulin available.
In other words, trans fat is one of the worst, probably the very worst, "foods" a diabetic can eat.
I put word "foods" in quotes because to call the artificially manufactured poison, trans fat, "food" would be a misnomer to say the least.
Now, if you've ever seen freshly ground peanuts, you know that it is simply oozing with peanut oil.
In fact, you have to stir fresh ground peanuts before you eat it.
So, you might be asking as did I why on earth do food companies remove this healthy peanut oil and replace it with partially hydrogenated oil containing poisonous trans fat? After some research, it turns out that the original historical answer is different that the modern day answer.
I'll start with the historical answer.
Peanut oil is a liquid, not a solid, at room temperature.
Therefore, you have to stir natural peanut butter before you spread it and some people consider this a hassle.
The "inventor" of Skippy brand peanut butter used a new technology to remove a portion of the peanut oil, hydrogenate it, and then put it back into the Skippy peanut butter brand to make it more spreadable and supposedly a better consistency at room temperature.
The modern day reason that peanut butter oil is removed and replaced with other oils that are partially hydrogenated is all about profit, although I'm sure they would claim something else.
This all got started in the 1960's when Procter & Gamble won a lawsuit allowing them to use not only partially hydrogenated peanut oil but a much cheaper partially hydrogenated oil in their peanut butter brand Jif.
Other peanut butter manufacturers followed suit of course since it was more profitable for them to do so.
Even after the evidence became overwhelming that trans fat is quite detrimental to our health, food manufacturers refused to stop this practice, primarily because they make more money if they take out the expensive peanut oil (obviously sold for a higher price elsewhere) and replace it with partially hydrogenated cheap oil.
If you are diabetic or even if you want to prevent diabetes in yourself or in your family, you should just say no to peanut butters with partially hydrogenated oils.
Buy natural peanut butters and take the time to stir in the natural healthy peanut oil that separates out.
In fact, you'll probably like the taste better too.