Peanuts & peanut butter are pretty high in fiber!

Peanuts as well as peanut butter and peanut flour are excellent dietary sources of fiber. A serving provides up to 10% of the DV.

How much fiber is in peanuts?

Peanuts are excellent dietary sources of fiber. They can help us meet our daily needs of fiber. Peanuts have between 8.5 and 9.5 grams of fiber per 100g, depending on the variety. A handful provides up to 2.7 g of fiber. This amount is almost 10% of the Daily Value (DV).

Each peanut variety has a slightly different fiber content:[1]

  • Virginia peanuts have 8.5 g of fiber per 100g
  • Valencia peanuts have 8.7 g of fiber per 100g
  • Spanish peanuts have 9.5 g of fiber per 100g. This peanut variety has approximately 12% higher amount of fiber than other common peanut varieties.

Is peanut butter & other peanut-based foods high in fiber?

Peanut butter is rich in fiber as well. It has about 6.6 grams of fiber per 100g. A tbsp provides 1.06 g of fiber, or almost 4% of the DV.

In fact, the popular peanut butter and jelly sandwich helps meet our daily needs of fiber!

Peanut butter isn’t the richest spread in fiber, though. Almond butter and tahini have a higher fiber content.

We should consume reasonable amounts of peanut butter, though. It can make us gain weight as it has many calories. Just a tbsp has 95 calories. However, small portions of peanut butter are good for weight loss.

Another peanut-based product high in fiber is peanut flour. It has 15.8 g of fiber per 100g. For comparison, whole wheat flour has between 10 and 13 g of fiber per 100g. Hence, peanut flour has 20-50% more fiber than wheat flour.

Most noteworthy, peanut flour is particularly rich in protein. It has 33.8 g of protein per 100g. Wheat flour has only 9.6 g of protein per 100g!

Moreover, many sweets with peanut butter have decent amounts of fiber. For instance, cookies and crackers filled with peanut butter have between 1.7 and 2.8 g of fiber per 100g.

On the contrary, peanut oil contains no fiber. In fact, all vegetable oil lack of fiber!

Do other nuts have a higher fiber content than peanuts?

Peanuts have a relatively medium fiber content as compared to other nuts. Almonds have the highest fiber content among favorite nuts. Chestnuts, pistachios, pecans, and hazelnuts have slightly more fiber per 100g than peanuts. Other common nuts have less fiber than peanuts.

fiber (g)
per 100g
fiber (g)
per handful
% DV
almonds12.53.513%
chestnuts11.73.312%
pistachios10.6311%
pecans9.62.710%
hazelnuts9.42.710%
peanuts8.52.49%
macadamia
nuts
82.38%
Brazil nuts7.52.18%
walnuts7.127%
pine nuts3.714%
cashews30.93%
Fiber content of common nuts.

All nuts have a great nutritional value. They’re excellent dietary sources of minerals, such as calcium, zinc, iron, and potassium. Peanuts are high in calcium as well.

What type of fiber is in peanuts?

There are two main types of fiber: soluble and insoluble fiber. Peanuts contain both. However, the fiber in peanuts is mainly insoluble. They have lower amounts of soluble fiber.[2]

Insoluble fiber doesn’t dissolve in the water. It absorbs water, making the stool softer. So, it helps defecation. On the other hand, soluble fiber dissolves in water, turning to a gel. It slows down digestion, it’s filling, and supports weight loss.

What’s the recommended daily intake of fiber?

A high fiber intake has been associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and certain gastrointestinal diseases. Also, it may reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol, enhance immune functions, and improve insulin sensitivity.[3]

We should consume at least 28 g of fiber per 2,000 calories. Higher amounts are better, though.

Consuming too much fiber is rather unlikely to cause any side effects. Actually, most people fail to meet the recommended daily intake of fiber. It’s estimated that about 90% of Americans don’t get enough fiber.

Common foods high in fiber

Only plant-based foods, like vegetables, fruits (e.g. avocado), beans, legumes, whole grains, pseudocereals (e.g. quinoa), mushrooms, seeds, and of course nuts, are good dietary sources of fiber.

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