8 Health Benefits of Peanuts
Rich in energy, peanuts contain many healthy nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that are very important for optimum health.
Whether you spread peanut butter on your morning toast, dip your celery stick in peanut butter, eat a handful of roasted nuts during a baseball game or munch on a cup of peanuts during your lunch break, you are improving your health by incorporating peanuts into your diet.
Health Benefits of Peanuts
Competes With Fruits – Fruits do wonders to your body by being rich sources of vitamins. Like fruits, peanuts are a great source of antioxidants, according to Dr. Gary Stone in Eat and Heal. They also contain oleic acid, which is the healthy fat found in olive oil. If you roast peanuts, you boost their antioxidant polyphenol content by 22 percent. While they cannot compete with certain fruits that contain the highest levels of antioxidant in their ingredients, they do surpass apples, carrots and strawberries in antioxidant richness.
Keeps Your Heart Healthy – As The American Heart Association stresses, too much fat and cholesterol can be harmful to your heart. However, there are healthy fats that can you help you. For example, a cup of peanuts practically covers a full day’s requirement of monounsaturated fatty acids.
Promotes Good Dental Health – Since peanuts have very low cariogenicity, unlike other foods, they are perfect snacks. They are also rich in calcium, fiber, vitamin E and D, which are essential nutrients for dental health. The different variations of peanuts, such as salted shelled peanuts, peanut butter sandwiches, unshelled peanuts, etc. are all excellent choices for preserving your oral health.
Helps You Lose Weight – Even though peanuts are high in fat, they are still considered as healthy snacks, which are essential for growth and development. They are full of protein and fiber, providing with lots of energy throughout the day. Peanuts can fill you up quicker than other snacks. For example, even if you do not finish a full cup of peanuts, it will still curb your desire to eat other foods high in protein, fat or carbohydrates.
Prevents Cancer – Like peas, peanuts are a rich source of beta-sitosterol, one of the estrogen-like plant called phytosterols. These legumes are high in fiber and protein and help protect your from breast, ovarian, prostate and colon cancer. Since peanuts contain high concentrations of polyphenolic antioxidants, like p-coumaric acid, they are known to lower the risk of stomach cancer by lowering the formation of carcionogenic nitrosamines.
Helps Reduce Risks – By being an excellent source of resveratrol, peanuts have a natural protective function against degenerative nerve disease, fungal infections and Alzheimer’s disease. Resveratrol reduces the risk of stroke formation by altering molecular mechanisms in blood vessels.
Maintain a healthy digestive system – A recommended serving size of peanuts can offer you almost 10% of your daily required fiber. This is essential in maintaining a healthy digestive system because fiber binds to bile acid and will reduce cholesterol in your system. Not only this but it will also bind to other toxins and help eradicate these form your system through more frequent bowel movements. Be aware however that many peanut based spreads have a lower fiber content because of the additives in the manufacturing process.
Anti-aging properties – Peanuts are naturally high in vitamin E which serves to protect your skin from aging and sun damage. In the body, this vitamin acts as an antioxidant making it a truly valuable nutrient required for healthy living, not to mention the youthful complexion these little wonders can offer you.
Since peanuts are always in season, they are always available in most food markets, including different variations, such as unshelled, shelled, salted, sweetened and more. While processed peanuts still contain many natural ingredients that can benefit your body, you should try to consume more of the unprocessed ones to achieve the strongest impact on your health.