Many people, maybe including yourself, love peanuts. This isn’t surprising. It’s a small food that you can munch on to satisfy cravings and provide relaxation, but there is one particular element of it that’s gaining a lot of traction: peanut oil. Peanut oil offers a lot of health benefits, including lowered blood pressure, strengthened immunity, boosted cognitive function and reduced risk of cancer. Not only that, it’s essential for skin care, nervous system and cardiac health, lowered cholesterol and so much more. Keep reading this article to learn more.
What is Peanut Oil?
Peanut oil, also called arachis oil or groundnut oil, is a type of vegetable oil commonly used in cooking. It comes in a number of varieties, including cold-pressed, roasted, unrefined and refined. Each of these types offer slightly different nutritional content and health benefits,
Generally, people used peanut oil in cooking to add an interesting flavour. It is also valued for the fact that it’s much healthier than other types of oil. Peanut oil is typically used in Asian cultures, like China, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Most of peanut oil’s health benefits come from its diverse range of fatty acids, including oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid and stearic acid, among others. Unbalanced levels of fatty acid may be dangerous for the health, but peanut oil has a safe balance. Of course, this is in addition to its amazing health benefits from other organic compounds, minerals and vitamins.
Nutritional Facts About Peanuts
Peanuts are oozing with energy and lots antioxidants, nutrients, minerals and vitamins. These are necessary for achieving optimum health. Not only that, they possess a sufficient amount of monounsaturated fats, which are essential in lowering bad cholesterol. Check the table below to learn more about what’s in peanuts that could also be in the oil.
| Principle | Amount | % Daily Value |
| Energy | 567 Kcal | 29% |
| Carbohydrates | 16.13 grams | 12% |
| Protein | 25.80 grams | 46% |
| Total Fat | 49.24 grams | 165% |
| Cholesterol | 0 milligrams | 0% |
| Dietary Fiber | 8.5 grams | 22% |
| Vitamins | ||
| Folates | 240 micrograms | 60% |
| Niacin | 12.066 milligrams | 75% |
| Pantothenic acid | 1.767 milligrams | 35% |
| Pyridoxine | 0.348 milligrams | 27% |
| Riboflavin | 0.135 milligrams | 10% |
| Thiamin | 0.640 milligrams | 53% |
| Vitamin A | 0 IU | 0% |
| Vitamin C | 0 milligrams | 0% |
| Vitamin E | 8.33 milligrams | 55.5% |
| Electrolyte | ||
| Sodium | 18 milligrams | 1% |
| Potassium | 705 milligrams | 15% |
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium | 92 milligrams | 9% |
| Copper | 1.144 milligrams | 127% |
| Iron | 4.58 milligrams | 57% |
| Magnesium | 168 milligrams | 42% |
| Manganese | 1.934 milligrams | 84% |
| Phosphorus | 76 milligrams | 54% |
| Selenium | 7.2 micrograms | 13% |
| Zinc | 3.27 milligrams | 30% |
| Phyto-nutrients | ||
| Carotene-α | 0 micrograms | — |
| Crypto-xanthin-β | 0 micrograms | — |
| Lutein-zeaxanthin | 0 micrograms | — |
Health Benefits of Peanut Oil
Here are some of the most astounding health benefits of peanut oil:
- Helps boost the immune system. The impressive resveratrol levels of peanut oil are essential in improving the immune system. Peanut oil also keeps you healthy by stimulating the production of white blood cells.
- Helps prevent cognitive conditions. The resveratrol in peanut oil is a multi-functional antioxidant. This helps eliminate or slow down the onset of cognitive conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s.
- Helps lower blood pressure. Again, the resveratrol is key here. It interacts with hormones that affect the blood vessels, like angiotensin, which constricts the arteries and vessels. By neutralizing these hormones, blood pressure is reduced and so is the cardiovascular system’s stress.
- Helps prevent cancer. Peanut oil possesses high amounts of polyphenol antioxidants which work to eliminate free radicals. Free radicals are dangerous for cellular metabolism and cause a wide range of diseases, including cancer.
- Helps boost heart health. There are monounsaturated fats in peanut oil, including oleic acid. These help increase the good cholesterol levels in the blood and are essential in scraping off and reducing the levels of bad cholesterol.
- Helps control cholesterol. Peanut oil is free of any direct cholesterol. This is one of the main factors that contribute to heart conditions like atherosclerosis.
