Dr. Mercola April 23 2005 3,288 views
After a two-decade long hiatus, peanuts may be making a dietary comeback. More doctors are recommending nuts as part of a heart-healthy diet, as the peanut industry has focused its efforts in emphasizing the antioxidant benefits of eating the nutty snack.
And people seem to be responding--the numbers speak volumes:
The total consumption of peanuts jumped last year to nearly 1.7 billion pounds, compared to 1.5 billion pounds the year before.
The amount of snack peanuts eaten climbed to 415 million pounds in the 2003-2004 crop year (the highest since the mid-1990s).
Peanut butter consumption soared to 900 million pounds, from a low of about 700 million in the 1990s.
Do Peanuts Have More Antioxidants Than Red Wine?
A study by the University of Georgia (UGA) may peak interest further, as scientists found a way to dramatically increase the amount of resveratrol--an antioxidant and key cancer and heart disease fighter--in peanuts to levels beyond those in red wine.
The peanuts modified at the UGA labs have more than 12 times the amount of resveratrol found in a study of 29 different red wines. Those wines averaged slightly more than a half-microgram of resveratrol per gram, while the peanuts modified by UGA researchers presented almost 8 micrograms per gram.
How do scientists improve the resveratrol content in peanuts? The method sounds simple ...
Peanut kernels are sliced into tiny pieces or hit with ultrasounds. So far, whole nuts don't respond to this process, scientists say. The only other drawback scientists reported was a slight off-flavor detected in a peanut butter prototype by a consumer panel and verified by UGA's trained taste panel.
Georgia Farm Bureau April 4, 2005
After reading the above article, it may seem that peanuts and peanut butter are an excellent health food, but what is important to understand is that peanuts are not, in fact, your healthiest option. Since this research was likely funded by the peanut industry, the researchers neglected to mention some of the potential problems with peanuts:
Peanuts are one of the most pesticide-laden foods you can eat.
They are top-heavy in omega-6 fats that distort the healthy omega-3:6 ratio. A much better choice if you want to eat nuts are walnuts, as they will give you some beneficial omega-3.
Often, peanuts are contaminated with aflatoxin, a carcinogenic mold; although a newer and safer biopesticide shows promise.
I consume peanut butter occasionally and am actually quite pleased that the researchers have found a way to increase their production of my absolute favorite antioxidant, trans-resveratrol, in them. There are some relatively simple guidelines you can follow to reduce peanuts' negative effects.
First, obtain Arrowhead Mills organic peanut butter. This peanut butter is made from Valencia peanuts, which are grown in New Mexico. Aflatoxin, a group of poisonous chemical compounds produced by mold, has not been reported to be a problem in that state due to the dry weather conditions. In addition, the organic version of peanut butter is pesticide-free.
Additionally, you can pour off the oil that settles on the top of the peanut butter jar rather than stirring it into the peanut butter, as this will lower the omega-6 content. If this makes it too dry for your taste you can stir in some olive oil or macadamia nut oil, both of which are very low in omega-6 fats and far higher in safe monounsaturated fats. Avoid using canola oil as filler, as it is fraught with other potential problems.
If you are interested in increasing the protein in peanut butter (peanuts have about the same amount of protein as soy), I recommend mixing in some Brewer's yeast. This is especially useful for vegetarians.
Finding Antioxidant Benefits Elsewhere
If, despite the suggested ways to reduce the negative side effects from peanuts as described above, you are still wary about eating peanuts, you can turn to other foods that rank high in antioxidant qualities such as:
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Antioxidants and Free Radicals: What to Eat to Protect Your Health
I love peanut butter, but I wonder if phytic acid is a problem.