A tablespoon (16 grams) of reduced-sodium peanut butter has 94 calories and just under 4 grams of protein. Despite peanut butter having 8 grams of fat, 6 of those fat grams come from heart-healthy unsaturated fat. Calcium, magnesium, and potassium are three minerals that can help manage your blood pressure, and peanut butter provides 41 milligrams of calcium, about 40% of your daily magnesium, and more than 20% of your recommended potassium.
There’s also something about peanuts themselves that could reduce your blood pressure and improve your heart health. A 2014 study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who were already at risk for cardiovascular disease saw significant improvements in their health profile after eating 42 grams of peanuts a day for 12 weeks. Specifically, their diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) reduced on average by 5 points, and their total cholesterol and triglycerides were also lowered.
A 2022 article in Frontiers in Nutrition additionally found that adding 25 grams of peanuts a day for six months can improve your cholesterol profile. However, the group that added two tablespoons of peanut butter to their diet each day didn’t see a healthy improvement in their cholesterol.