A healthy snack can fit into any diet. Regardless of one’s personal health journey, peanuts can serve as a good addition for most people’s meal plan. Children especially are known for loving the smooth texture of peanut butter. If you love peanuts but are unsure of their health benefits, read below for some great news.
Is the High Fat Content In Peanuts Bad For You?
Nuts are notoriously high in fat. The low-fat diet craze of the 1990s contributed to people of all sizes and health concerns avoiding most fatty foods. But the fat found in items such as avocados, peanuts, tree nuts, and olives are actually good sources of fat. The Peanut Institute has several studies indicating that eating a serving of peanuts just twice a week can lower cardiovascular disease by 24%, and that number climbs to half when they are eaten five times a week.
With a high fat content, some people worry about the cholesterol in nuts. The peanut cholesterol percentage is actual zero milligrams. How can peanuts have a high fat content but lower heart disease? It is due to the type of fat peanuts contain. The peanut cholesterol percentage is zero because peanuts contain both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats.
Some Interesting Facts About Peanut Butter.
Peanut butter needs to be made of at least 90% of peanuts to qualify as such under the Food and Drug Administration. Americans have been enjoying peanut butter for well over 100 years. Peanut butter was first served to the public in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair.
If you have a jar in your kitchen cabinet, do you know how many peanuts it took to make it? About 540 peanuts are used to make an average 12- ounce jar according the the National Peanut Board. But those peanuts are not the worrisome genetically-modified organisms in the media. In fact, 99.9% of the peanuts grown today are nearly identical to its ancestors of 100 years ago.
How to Add Peanuts to Your Diet In New Ways.
While a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a classic beloved by many people, there are many different options when it comes to adding more peanuts into your diet. After all, five servings a week of peanuts has been documented as cutting one’s risk of heart disease in half.
Some popular kid-friendly options are peanut butter with slices of fruit or vegetables such as carrots and celery. Chopped peanuts can be added to the tops of salads or yogurt parfaits, or ice cream sundaes if you prefer. Many delicious Asian dishes use peanut as a base for dipping sauces as well.
The nutritional breakdown of peanuts includes a good amount of fiber in proportion to calories, heart- healthy fats, and a good protein content per serving. The peanut cholesterol percentage is even lower than that of a chicken breast. Unless a person has a peanut allergy, there is no reason for someone to avoid eating peanuts because peanut benefits are undisputed.
