Peanuts are a heart-healthy food according to the World's Healthiest Foods. Full of antioxidants, unsaturated fat, protein and other nutrients, peanuts are a useful addition to a cholesterol-lowering diet. They also contain nutrients that might help prevent certain types of cancers and prevent gallstones. Frequent consumption of peanuts has been linked with lower incidence of heart disease.
Nutrition Facts
Nearly three quarters of the total calories in peanut butter come from fat, including saturated fat. This might make it hard for some to believe peanut butter can actually be a healthy food. But peanut butter is generally low in carbohydrates and is about one-fourth protein. Its high fat content makes it filling, and its protein content includes several essential amino acids. Peanut butter is also naturally cholesterol-free.
Good and Bad Fats
Not all fat is bad for your health. While saturated fats, which generally remain solid at room temperature, tend to build up in your arteries and increase blood pressure, high density lipids like unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats can actually reverse arterial plaque buildup. Trans fat, a category of partially hydrogenated fats found in many fried foods and commercially produced baked goods, are a form of low density fat that exacerbates heart disease.
Peanut Butter Fat
According to Walter C. Willett, a nutrition professor at Harvard, peanut butter contains about 80 percent unsaturated fat, similar to olive oil in terms of the ratio of healthy unsaturated fat to unhealthy saturated fat. This is despite the fact most brands of peanut butter contain added saturated or trans fats to prevent separation and increase shelf life. Natural peanut butters, which tend to separate unless refrigerated, do not contain this added saturated fat, and have an even better cholesterol profile.
Effects of Good Fat
A study published in the "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" in 2003 found that levels of triglycerides, a very low-density fatty acid, decreased in test subjects after just a few weeks of eating raw peanuts. Subjects ate 500 to 1,000 kCal worth of peanuts over three to eight weeks and experienced a 24 percent decline in triglyceride levels.
Heart-Healthy Nutrients
The study also found that increased consumption of peanuts boosted absorption of certain heart-healthy nutrients known to lower risk of cardiovascular disease. These included dietary fiber, magnesium, folate, alpha tocopherol, copper and arginine. Peanuts and peanut butter have also been noted for their reservatrol content, the substance primarily associated with the health benefits of red wine. Peanut butter has about half the resveratrol as wine by weight. As Professor Willett notes, the complete nutritional package peanut butter offers makes it a useful addition to your diet.
Member Comments