Peanuts are the seeds of the leguminous plant Arachis hypogaea that belongs to the Fabaceae or Leguminosae family. Because peanuts are used for their oil and are not dried, they are legumes but not pulses (pulses include lentils, beans and peas). All edible pulses and legumes share common metabolic effects which includes beneficial postprandial glycaemic changes and weight loss properties. The former is very likely the cause of the latter in this regard. The effects of incorporating peanuts into the diet of healthy humans has been investigated in the nutritional literature. For example, in one study1, subjects consumed 42 grams of peanuts per day in three equal servings. The peanuts consumed by the subjects were flavoured in one of three ways (salted, spicy, honey roasted) or unsalted, and groups of individuals consumed either one single flavour or a combination of their choice. The authors then measured a number of cardiometabolic parameters that are associated with an increase in cardiovascular risk.
The results showed that peanut consumption caused reductions in diastolic blood pressure (-0.7 mm Hg), and these reductions were particularly apparent (and significant) in those at high risk of cardiovascular disease (-5.0 mm Hg). In addition those at high risk of cardiovascular disease also had significant reductions in total cholesterol (-12.1 mg/dL) and triglycerides (also called very low density lipoprotein (VLDL); -31.7 mg/dL). Those at low risk of cardiovascular disease had no significant changes to their cholesterol levels, triglyceride levels or blood pressure. The additional energy supplied to the diets of the subjects were 240 kcal for the unsalted nuts and 255 kcal for the salted, spicy and honey roasted nuts. As has been shown previously, despite the addition energy intake in the diets, none of the groups had an increase in mean body weight or mean body fat. Therefore these results support previous findings and suggest that consumption of legumes have beneficial metabolic effects even in studies of short duration (12 weeks).
Dr Robert Barrington’s Nutritional Recommendation: As has been shown previously, the consumption of peanuts does not cause weight gain despite the additional energy intake. This effect has also been reported for the consumption of tree nuts. This disproved the simple energy balance theory of weight gain, which states that weight gain is simply the result of too much food and too little exercise. Much of the energy in nuts is not absorbed because the energy is contained within intact cells that are resistant to digestive forces. Further, the beneficial glycaemic effects seen with legume consumption reverses insulin resistance, the primary driver of weight gain. Pooling the results from each group did cause a significant increase in body weight for the subjects as a whole (+0.6 kg) but this increase in body weight was caused by an increase in lean mass and fat mass, such that there was no significant change in body fat percentages. Therefore peanut consumption does not affect body composition detrimentally.
RdB
