What You Should Know About Peanuts

Americans love peanuts, from peanut butter sandwiches to peanut butter cookies, energy bars and desserts. Americans consume over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut products every year. Peanut butter is consumed in 90% of US households. The average American eats over 6 pounds of peanuts every year.

This national “nut” [actually legumes] is promoted as a healthy and affordable protein, vitamin E, folic acid, manganese, niacin, and even resveratrol [an antioxidant in red grapes] Although peanuts are health foods that are declared to be.

Many people have chosen to avoid peanuts and peanut butter:

• Food allergies . The proportion of peanut allergies in American children has more than tripled over the past decade.
• High omega-6 fat content . Compared to other nuts such as almonds, macadamia nuts and cashew nuts, peanuts have a relatively high content of omega-6. Without enough omega 3 to balance, omega 6 is inflamed in the body. In addition, roasting peanuts at high temperatures can damage fragile omega-6 fats and turn them into oxidized fats, a source of free radicals that can cause DNA damage.
• Phytic acid . Present in all nuts, seeds, grains, beans, and legumes, it binds to nutrients in food and prevents the body from absorbing such nutrients. Roasting does not remove phytic acid, but most of it is removed by soaking, germination and fermentation.
• Lectin . These are carbohydrate binding proteins that are ubiquitous in plants and animals. If sensitive to certain lectins, they can damage the lining of the small intestine. Some lectins are destroyed by soaking, germination, and fermentation, while peanut lectins are more difficult to break. Also, because of its heat resistance, roasting nuts is not useful.
• Garaco sugar . They are a type of carbohydrate that can cause uncomfortable digestion problems in certain people, especially those with irritable bowel syndrome [IBS].
• Pesticide . Peanuts are generally a crop that is sprayed in large quantities, so you should always buy organic peanut products.

But there is another important reason to pay attention to peanuts: aflatoxins.

What is aflatoxin?

Aflatoxin is a toxin produced by a mold called Aspergillus that grows in the soil surrounding crops grown in a hot and humid environment. Some crops, including the following, are particularly vulnerable to aflatoxins.

• Peanuts
• corn
• Oil seeds such as cottonseed
• Wheat
• Pea and other nuts

Peanuts prefer a warm climate and plenty of rainwater or irrigation. Due to its thin and porous shell, peanuts are a major candidate for fungal infestation during growth and storage. Aflatoxins can infest crops as a result of improper storage in high humidity environments. Both organic peanuts and regular peanuts are susceptible to aflatoxins.

Aflatoxin is toxic

Aflatoxins are carcinogenic and have been shown to cause liver cancer by reacting with DNA in laboratory animals, resulting in mutations in the p53 gene, also known as a tumor suppressor gene. Without p53, the immune system is suppressed and the ability to stop tumor formation is lost.

In humans, there are studies that correlate aflatoxin intake with the high incidence of liver cancer in many developing countries that consume large amounts of food contaminated with aflatoxins. Scientists believe that aflatoxins kill hepatocytes and reduce their ability to produce glutathione in the liver. Glutathione is not only a powerful anti-cancer antioxidant but also an antidote that helps the body remove heavy metals and toxins.

The US Food and Drug Administration [FDA] is fully aware of the toxic effects of aflatoxins and has set a limit of 20 ppm [ppb]. However, the limits for Canada and Europe are significantly lower.

Aflatoxins are very stable and are not easily destroyed by high temperatures such as cooking, baking and roasting. Currently, there are no long-term studies showing that low exposure over time is safe and does not accumulate in a significant toxic burden on the body. Therefore, to be cautious, people with cancer or those in remission should not eat peanuts regularly.

How to reduce aflatoxin exposure?

First of all, eat less food that is most frequently contaminated with aflatoxins Oil seeds such as peanuts, corn and cotton seeds, nuts such as wheat and pecans.

Purchase quality . Do not purchase moldy, discolored or wrinkled nuts. Purchase from companies that always take aflatoxin contamination seriously. For example, MaraNatha claims that its peanut butter is virtually free of aflatoxins. Similarly, Whole Foods claims that 365 brand peanut butter has aflatoxin levels in the range of 0-10 ppb, well below FDA levels.

Do not purchase in bulk . Do-it-yourself nut butters found in health food stores usually have high levels of aflatoxins. These nuts are often stored in the grinding chamber for weeks or months. Domestic brands regularly check for aflatoxin levels, but bulk brands do not.

Buy quality meat and dairy products . Since aflatoxins are found in milk and meat from animals fed contaminated feed [such as corn], it is always preferable to choose beef and dairy products that are fed pasture from reputable farms.

Give the body an antidote . Eat more of these foods known to reduce the carcinogenic effects of aflatoxins-carrot, celery, garlic, onion, parsnip, parsley, chlorophyll [contained in green vegetables], chlorella, spirulina.