A lot of us may agree that eating peanuts is one of the best things to do in this world. Well, aside from it is delicious, it may also get rid of stress. Nonetheless, peanuts are not just good snacks, they are also good for the health. As a matter of fact, the peanut has a lot of essential vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in it. All of which is good for the health, and make up the incredible health benefits of peanuts. See it for yourself, give this article a read and get to know more facts about peanuts!
Peanuts: What are these?
Scientifically, they call peanuts as Arachis hypogaea. It goes through a lot of names, including goobers, earthnuts, and groundnuts. Furthermore, this type of nuts originally comes from South America. Nevertheless, peanuts are theoretically not nuts. They in fact, belongs to the legume family, and are more related to soy, lentils, and beans. Botanically, they are small in size and are underground fruit pods of the plant that belongs to the Fabaceae plant family, in the Arachis genus.
In the United States, peanuts are hardly ever eaten in raw form. Rather, they are consumed in salted and roasted form, or in peanut butter. Some other products that are made with peanuts include peanut protein, peanut flour, and peanut oil. Peanut products are beneficial in a lot of foods; sauces, snacks, confectioneries, cakes, and desserts.
Not only that peanuts taste really good, they are also rich in fat, protein, and a lot of other essential nutrients. Moreover, studies also show that peanuts may be beneficial in losing weight, and have a connection in the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular illnesses.
Moreover, the delightful, nutty, and crunchy peanuts are one of the most popular oilseeds that are known to humankind ever since. The peanut kernels that are enriched with a lot of notable health-promoting nutrients that are essential for the optimum wellness and health.
Nutritional Value of Peanuts
Peanuts are rich in energy and have health-promoting nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, which are beneficial for the optimum health. Furthermore, they also possess enough levels of monounsaturated fats, especially the oleic acid that is beneficial in lowering the bad cholesterols and increasing the good cholesterols in the blood. Moreover, peanut kernels are rich in dietary protein, high-quality amino acids, which are beneficial for the growth and development.
Refer to the table below to know the other nutrients in the peanuts.
| 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% |
| Electrolytes | ||
| 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 Peanuts
Here are some of the most startling health benefits of peanuts:
- Helps in protecting the skin. The vitamin E content of the peanuts is beneficial in maintaining the integrity of the cells of the mucous membrane as well as the skin. This is beneficial in protecting the skin against free radicals that cause great damage.
- Oozing with anti-oxidants. There is a high concentration of antioxidants in the peanuts. All of these antioxidants are beneficial in reducing the damage that is due to free radicals in the body.
- Helps in reducing the chances of stroke. The resveratrol antioxidant in the peanuts is beneficial in preventing stroke. This is through increasing the nitric oxide production.
- Helps in fighting against Alzheimer’s disease, never conditions, infections, and heart conditions. The resveratrol in the peanut is an antioxidant that prevents cancers, fungal or viral infections, nervous conditions, and heart conditions.
- Helps in fighting stomach cancer. This is one of the best health benefits of peanuts. There is a high concentration of polyphenolic antioxidants in the peanut. This is beneficial in reducing the risk of stomach cancer through the reduction of the production of carcinogenic nitrosamines.
- Aids in growth. There is an ample amount of protein in the peanuts. This is essential in the proper growth and development of the body.
- Cholesterol levels. Peanuts are capable of lowering the levels of bad cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol levels in the body. Peanuts may also contain mono-unsaturated fats, which may prevent coronary conditions.
- Rich in energy. The peanuts has nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Hence, they are rich energy sources.
Uses of Peanuts
Peanuts are versatile kind of nuts and with just a little imagination, you can already incorporate this legume more easily in the daily diet. Aforementioned earlier are the health benefits of peanuts, now, we are going to learn about some of the ways to utilize peanut in cooking.
Boiling peanut is one method to prepare peanuts. This is probably the most common way to cook it. Another is the peanut flour, which comes from blanched peanuts. This flour can be beneficial in frostings, bakery mixes, cereal bars, and confectionary products.
Also, roasted peanuts is one of the favorite snacks, and very easy to prepare.
