If you’re on a gluten-free diet, you’re probably already used to scanning food labels to ensure they’re gluten-free. Even if you’re not on a gluten-free diet, you’ve probably heard a lot about gluten and diets that avoid it, which might have piqued your curiosity about what gluten is and why some people avoid it.
Nut butters are generally gluten-free as long as they don’t have added ingredients not normally found in nut butter. Examples of non-gluten-free nut butters would be specialty/high-protein nut butters containing cookie pieces, or any nut butter containing gluten-based additives (which is rare).
So what’s all of the hullabaloo about gluten anyway? We’ll dig into it a bit next!
All about gluten
Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, rye, and barley (grains). Gluten helps provide elasticity and chewiness to baked goods and also helps trap steam to assist in the leavening (rising) of baked goods like bread.
Why is gluten important to talk about? People with Celiac disease (a type of autoimmune disease) will experience severe pain and inflammation in their digestive tract when they eat gluten, which can lead to intestinal damage and reduced nutrient absorption.
The good news is that Celiac disease is considered more rare than other types of issues like food intolerances, which we’ll explain next.
What is gluten intolerance? If you’re gluten intolerant, you won’t have as severe of a reaction as someone with Celiac disease when you eat gluten, but you can experience stomach upset and other adverse health changes when you eat gluten.
Are nut butters gluten-free?
The good news for gluten-free dieters is that all types of plain nut butters are naturally gluten-free. Nut and seed butters are made from nuts and seeds, and occasionally have the addition of things like oils, salt, and sugar – and none of these contain gluten.
If nut butter is sweetened, it’s generally with regular sugar – not any gluten-based sweetener like malt syrup.
Which nut butters aren’t gluten-free?
There are some exceptions about nut butter being gluten-free. Specialty and “dessert” nut butters with added ingredients like cookie dough pieces are not gluten-free.
For instance, “Fit Butters” brand contains added whey protein and enriched flour (wheat/gluten) in its “Cookie Monster Madness” cashew butter, which has chunks of cookie made from wheat flour.
How to choose gluten-free nut butter
If you’re choosing regular nut butter without added ingredients (like the example above), then it’s highly likely to be gluten-free.
If you’re avoiding gluten, then you should watch out for hidden gluten, which can be present in additives like malt syrup (a sweetener).
Label reading tips
For a quick check, look at the bottom of the ingredients list to see if there is any hidden wheat (wheat is one of the major food allergens, so manufacturers have to clearly state on the label if the product contains any of the major food allergens). If it contains wheat, it will say CONTAINS: WHEAT
Other manufacturers will label if their product is gluten-free, so you can look for a gluten-free claim or label.
Remember that you won’t have to worry about gluten in regular nut and seed butters 99% of the time – only if you’re choosing a specialty nut butter with extra ingredients that aren’t usually present in nut butter.
FAQs:
Regular JIF peanut butter (crunchy, creamy, and natural varieties) are gluten-free.
Most brands of almond butter should be gluten-free. Gluten isn’t typically added to nut butter except in rare cases like specialty high-protein nut butters with cookie pieces, etc.
Peanut butter is perfectly fine to eat if you have an intolerance to gluten.
All types of Skippy peanut butter are gluten-free.
All types of regular peanut butter are gluten-free. If nut butter has added ingredients that aren’t usually in regular peanut butter (such as cookie pieces or malt-based sweeteners), then it wouldn’t be gluten-free.
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