Peanut – the king of all nuts

Nuts are widely used as snacks or appetizers in many households around the world, but many people probably don’t know how important they could be for their health. Research has shown that eating a portion of peanuts or peanut butter per day can help reduce the risk of heart disease, type2 diabetes and gallbladder disease.

Nuts are high on plant protein and fat, which are mostly unsaturated fat and considered to be a healthy alternative of animal fat and Trans fat, it’s a good source of energy and a few nuts early in the morning can keep you going the entire day.

Components of peanut

Peanuts are good source of 30 essential nutrients like

Niacin

Antioxidants

Resveratrol

Antioxidant

Magnesium and zinc

Help in cholesterol control

The antioxidants present in peanuts are very beneficial for people with heart disease; they are good in anti viral properties, which keep a smooth flow of blood in the entire body.

Peanuts have more quantity of antioxidants than many of the fruits known for their antioxidant contents like apples, carrot and beet. Roasted peanuts are proved to have more antioxidant than the normal peanuts. According to a research on the effects of peanuts on blood fat level, it was found that eating 1 ½ to 3 ½ servings of nuts, at least 5 times a week could significantly lower cholesterol level.

Peanuts are also a rich source of resveratrol, recent researches on this chemical has proved that it is effective in dealing with the process of aging i.e. it has anti aging properties, other than that it can reduce the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases also. Peanuts are a known source of protein; it has almost 25% more protein than any other nut.

Cuisine

Peanuts can be consumed in a number of ways and forms, and these peanut products have equal beneficial effect on health. These include

Peanut oil

Peanut butter

Fat free peanut flour

You can add peanuts to your diet in a number of ways, some are given:

(a)Add peanut flour in baking process.
(b) Spread peanut butter on your morning toast or bagel.
(c) Sprinkle them over your salad bowl
(d) Use peanut oil in stir fry and salad dressings
(e) Use them as snacks at anytime
(f) Boil and have them as snacks