Almond Butter Benefits for Skin
For many years, skin care experts and product manufacturers have used almond oil as a treatment for dry skin. The moisturizing properties of the oil work particularly well for people with delicate or sensitive skin, making it a good choice for dry skin on your face or to relieve itching and soreness from rashes and other skin irritations. So if almond oil is good for your skin from the outside, can eating almonds and almond butter help your skin? Let's take a look and see why eating almond butter can be very beneficial for your skin.Almond Butter is High in Vitamin E
Minimally processed, homestyle almond butter is particularly high in vitamin E, containing almost 9 mg for every ΒΌ cup of almonds used. It's important to note that due to mass processing, many of the almond butters you find in grocery or health food stores will not contain this high amount of vitamin E. Stick with almond butter made in small batches from fresh, organic almonds to get the highest nutritional content.
Why do we care about the amount of vitamin E in almond butter? Vitamin E is one of the most important nutrients for healthy skin. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Molecular Medicine (1995 Jan;73(1):7-17)1 found that vitamin E protects skin from the negative effects of oxidation (being exposed to oxygen) as well as photoaging (premature aging of the skin from exposure UV rays).
This one fact alone is a great reason to include more almond butter in your diet. But we're not finished yet. There are even more reasons to find the best almond butter.
Almond Butter Provides Essential Fatty Acids
Almond butter also contains a healthy dose of Omega-6 fatty acids. Your body uses these essential fatty acids, along with Omega-3, to make eicosanoids, which have been shown to reduce the incidence of eczema, psoriasis, acne and other inflammatory skin conditions. These Omega-6 fatty acids are also beneficial for hormonal balance, so their health benefits affect much more than just your skin.
If you're considering peanut butter as a source of these essential components of healthy skin, you'll want to reconsider. In the almond butter or/vs. peanut butter discussion, when it comes to benefits for your skin, almond butter wins hands down.
Peanut butter does not contain the healthy dose of vitamin E that you'll find in minimally processed, organic almond butter. And even though peanut butter contains Omega-6 fatty acids, it has been classified as an inflammatory food due to the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3. That's all very technical, but the bottom line is that although organic peanut butter has a wide variety of health benefits, organic almond butter is the best choice for your skin.
Where Can You Find Almond Butter?
We recommend going online to find the best almond butter, but you can find mass produced almond butter in some grocery stores. However, you need to keep in mind that much of the nutritional value is lost in processing. That's why a minimally processed almond butter, made in small batches is your best bet. Occasionally high-end health food stores will carry minimally processed organic almond butter, but you may have to hunt for it.
Naturally Nutty uses only fresh organic almonds from California in our organic almond butter products. We leave the skins on for the additional fiber. Then each small batch of almond butter is made to precise standards to provide you and your family with the ultimate in freshness, quality and nutrition.
So try our Naturally Nutty Organic Almond Butter for yourself and taste the difference. We know you're going to love it as much as we do!
Footnotes