Peanuts: Healthy munch in Winters
Peanuts: Healthy munch in Winters
Winter is approaching and so is the time when we all develop craving for delicious, crunchy, and nutty
peanuts. Peanuts are one of the popular oil seeds known to humankind since ancient times. The nuts are
enriched with many noteworthy health-benefiting nutrients that are essential for optimum health. They
are actually legumes but have almost all the qualities that true nuts like almonds have.
Health benefits of Peanuts
§ Peanuts are rich in energy and contain many health benefiting nutrients, minerals, antioxidants and
vitamins that are essential for optimum health.
§ They are especially, rich in mono-unsaturated fatty acids like oleic acids that help to lower LDL or "bad
cholesterol" and increase HDL or "good cholesterol".
§ These nuts are good source of dietary protein
compose fine quality amino acids that are
essential for growth and development.
§ Research studies have shown that peanuts
contain high concentrations of poly-phenolic
antioxidants, primarily in p-coumaric acid,
which is believed to reduce the risk of
stomach cancer by reducing the formation
of carcinogenic nitrosamines.
§ Peanuts are excellent source of resveratrol,
another polyphenol antioxidant, which has been
fund to have protective function against cancers, heart disease, degenerative nerve disease,
Alzheimer's disease, and viral/fungal infections.
§ The nuts are an excellent source of vitamin E (a-tocopherol); containing about 8 g per100 g.
vitamin E is a powerful lipid soluble antioxidant which helps maintain the integrity of cell
membrane of mucus membranes and skin by protecting from harmful oxygen free radicals.
§ The nuts are packed with many important B-complex groups of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin,
thiamin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B-6, and folates. 100 g of peanuts provide about 85% of RDI of
niacin, which contribute to brain health and blood flow to brain.
§ The nuts are rich source of minerals like copper, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron,magnesium,
zinc, and selenium.
Just a hand full of peanuts per day provides enough recommended levels of phenolic anti-oxidants,
minerals, vitamins, and protein.