As snacks go, peanuts are a surprisingly good source of nutrients, at least for those who can stomach them. Peanuts seem to be public enemy No. 1 on a growing list of food allergies.
With National Peanut Day approaching Sept. 13, let’s peel back the shell and find out more about the two sides of peanuts.
Peanuts (and peanut butter) account for two-thirds of nut consumption annually, according to The Peanut Institute (which also helpfully notes that technically peanuts aren’t nuts; they’re legumes, like peas or beans).
Peanuts and related products provide protein, fiber and beneficial plant-based fat. A one-ounce serving of dry roasted, salted peanuts provides 6.7 grams of protein, or 13 percent of recommended daily intake, and 2.3 grams of fiber, or 9 percent of recommended intake.
According to The Peanut Institute, peanuts also help promote better absorption of other key nutrients (in particular, oils aid in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K).
Peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil also can act as antioxidants, and also are a good source of phytosterols, which can reduce cholesterol and may help prevent certain cancers. Peanuts also dwarf almonds, pistachios, pecans, walnuts and cashews as sources of vitamin A, vitamin B6, magnesium, foliate, niacin, iron, zinc, potassium and phosphorus, among other nutrients.
For all their advantages over other salty snacks, peanuts also are at the forefront of a growing number of diagnosed food allergies. Any parent who’s been charged with bringing snacks to a classroom can vouch for that.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, diagnoses of food allergies grew by more than 50 percent between 1997 and 2011. Peanut-allergy diagnoses more than tripled over that same timeframe, according to The New York Times.
“All allergic conditions have been increasing over the last several decades, including food allergies,” said Dr. Duane Keitel of Allergy Partners of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. “Peanut has seen the largest increase among foods.”
Because of the severity of reactions to peanut allergies, including anaphylaxis (constricting of the airway, swelling of the tongue, rapid heartbeat, fainting, nausea, vomiting), some schools have moved toward isolating peanut products in lunchrooms, if not banning them altogether.
“There definitely is more awareness for food and peanut allergy now,” Dr. Keitel said. “I have adult patients in their 40s and 50s that have had peanut allergy since childhood. The awareness and laws to aid children with food allergies were not in place when they were kids. They just tried to stay from peanuts when in school.”
With the increase in people diagnosed with food, and particularly peanut, allergies has come an increase in misdiagnoses, Dr. Keitel said, citing a 2015 study in The Journal of Pediatrics. Blood tests done for food allergies are best evaluated by allergists, he said.
