Does Eating Celery With Peanut Butter Help You Lose Weight?

Celery and peanut butter contain a variety of nutrients, most of which can help with your weight loss goals. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the oil in peanut butter is monosaturated and considered a healthy fat. Healthy fats can keep you feeling full longer and can prevent you from eating too much at one meal. Not only does peanut butter make a great snack, but when combined with celery, it can become a powerful ally in your weight loss journey. One serving of a large stalk of celery and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter provides roughly 200 calories. You can cut the serving in half and eat one for your morning snack and one for your afternoon snack.

A plate of celery and peanut butter. (Image: allisonc004/iStock/Getty Images)

Fiber

Peanut butter and celery both contain fiber. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, fiber helps with digestion and helps you maintain a healthy weight and, like healthy fats, can keep you satiated longer. Aim to get around 20 to 30 grams of fiber in your diet per day. This amount will depend on your body. A 2-tablespoon serving of smooth peanut butter contains 1.8 grams of fiber, and 1 large stalk of celery contains 1 gram of fiber, making a peanut butter and celery snack worth about 3 grams of fiber.

Healthy Oil

Healthy oils found in peanut butter are high in calories but are essential for any diet. The fats in peanut butter help with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins like A and K. They also help produce hormones in the body. This is important because when losing weight, you want to build and maintain lean mass. The hormone testosterone plays a major role in the maintenance and growth of muscle mass. Without enough healthy fats, testosterone may decrease and building lean muscle would be difficult.

Water

Celery contains a high amount of water content, making it an ideal companion to the healthy fats and extra fiber peanut butter offer. Extra water helps you remove waste faster so you keep less weight in your stomach. The water in celery will also take up more room in your stomach, making you feel full faster so you don't gain weight by overeating.

Considerations

While celery and peanut butter do offer a powerful combination of vitamins and macronutrients, you should be careful not to over indulge. Peanut butter contains 14 grams of fat per tablespoon, which is about 130 calories just from fat alone. Always know what your daily caloric limits and goals are and snack on these two accordingly as they fit your dietary needs. Celery by itself is great food and will help you feel full fast without adding too many calories. If you are very active, celery and peanut butter can be an important way for you to not only get calories, but protein, fiber and healthy fats all in one.