Almond butter is the best bet for your diet. It has peanut butter's same creamy texture while packing about 3 grams more of heart healthy monounsaturated fat per serving. Plus, it's typically lower in sugar than peanut butter and free of hydrogenated oil. Once Again almond butter is one of the many healthy brands to choose from, but it takes top honors here because it has only one ingredient: roasted almonds.
Walnuts are perhaps the best vegetarian source of the omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for total-body health. Although walnut butter is slightly lower in protein and slightly higher in fat than other nut butters, it's a great choice because of its omega-3s. This nut butter is not commonly found in grocery stores, shop your local health food store, order online, or whip up your own at home using a blender or food processor.
Even though 3 million adults are allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, or both, peanut butter is still the most popular spread at the store, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology reports. That said, peanut butter lovers should think about trading in the traditional stuff for a natural mix that's free of hydrogenated oil and preservatives. "The fastest way to pick a nut butter is to look at the ingredients and look for nothing but nuts," Malone says.