Natural peanut butter is just peanut butter without the added hydrogenated fat added to keep it bound. So that the oils don't separate from the solid.
I know I'm not much for maintaining the status quo, lol and I'm going to continue that trend for peanut butter. Quite frankly all this natural versus regular pb, imo, has been a big huge mountain made out of a mole hill.
There is not that much difference in the fat content of your everyday jar of pb (like Jiff) and a "natural" version. I think people are acting like they had huge gobs of hydrogenated fats to regular peanut butter but they don't. It's like a drop, lol. It doesn't take much and a serving of regular peanut butter contains zero grams of trans fat. By federal law that means that it has to contain less that .5 grams per serving and in fact most ALL peanut butter contains much less trans fat than that. More like .001 to .003 grams. The hydrogenated oils also act as a preservative which significantly extends the shelf life.
Peanuts are really high in monounsaturated fats so they don't go bad as quickly as all that but natural peanut butter will not last as long as regular.
Peanut butter has so many solid health benefits that, to me, if eating regular pb means you'll eat more of it (so long as it falls within your needs) then eat regular. If you don't mind the fact that natural peanut butter needs to be stirred and also refrigerated if you arent going to consume it quickly then by all means eat that. I personally find natty pb to be a pain in the butt that is not worth it.
Another option that is on the market is pb which has a little bit of palm oil added as a binder. So absolutely no added hydrogenated oils or their trans fats. This is what I use. Stays completely mixed just like good old regular pb. The fat content is hardly changed at all..or at least not enough to be significant.
Basically, though, what I am saying is pb is good food period, imo. Eat the kind you like. I get the Skippy natural which has a bit of palm oil. Tastes awesome. No mixing. Good healthy fats. Always having a good sale on it at my grocery store
