Peanut farmers have been touting the nutritional benefits of peanuts and peanut products for years, and recent research is beginning to support their claims.
“It has already been proven that peanut oil has many of the same characteristics as olive oil,” Jeffrey Pope, treasurer for the National Peanut Board told attendees at a recent Virginia Peanut Festival board meeting.
This year’s Va. Peanut Festival is not only going to celebrate the importance of the peanut; with the festival’s theme this year being “Digging up a treasure of NUTrition,” the festival will highlight the peanut’s nutrition and health benefits.
“Peanuts are protein powerhouses,” Pope said.
Many vegetarians use peanuts and peanut butter as a protein supplement to their diet, but Pope said that the peanut has even more value than as just a meat substitute.
The National Peanut Board is in the process of funding research that examines what the peanut has to offer to the currently very health conscious country. So far, completed research shows that peanuts can make a big impact on six different hot health topics: heart health, cholesterol, diabetes, satiety, cancer, and alzheimer's.
“Nutrient dense peanuts and peanut butter often contains many vitamins and nutrients that are lacking in the traditional American diet,” Pope said.
Heart health has become a big issue in America as the percentage of Americans that are obese has risen in recent years. Resveratrol, a nutrient found in red wine that may help prevent heart disease, can also be found in peanuts. Peanuts are also naturally cholesterol free and contain mostly monosaturated fats. Some research has recently shown that a healthy diet that contains monosaturated fats is actually better than an all around low fat diet.
“It shouldn’t be called fat because that makes you think it’s bad for you,” Pope said of monosaturated fats.
In every ounce of dry roasted, salted peanuts there is 16 percent of an individual’s daily Vitamin E needs. One ounce of protein is equal to two tablespoons of peanut butter.
“Vitamin E in food sources has been known to reduce the risk of heart disease,” Pope said.
A Physicians Health Study also recently showed that individuals who included peanuts in their diet were less likely to get heart disease.
“Eating just two servings of peanuts or other nuts a week will help prevent the onset of another cardiac event after someone has experienced a heart attack,” Pope said.
Peanuts are also great at increasing a person’s satiety, or fullness, because they contain nine percent of an individual’s dietary fiber needs per every ounce.
“Fiber makes food more satisfying,” Pope said. “Peanuts can enhance satiety and affect the absorption of some calories.”
Peanuts also contain Beta-sitosterol and Phytosterols which can both inhibit the growth of certain cancers. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association also recently showed that peanuts may reduce the affects of Alzheimer's Disease.
“I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nutritionist, but I think I’ve gathered all the information about peanuts that you can,” Pope said.
The National Peanut Board uses 20 percent, the most allowed by law, of its budget for peanut research.
“The Peanut Board gets its money from the same sources as every other commodity board in the U.S.,” Pope said.
One percent of the profit from every ton of peanuts is given to the board for peanut promotion and peanut research.
“We’ve thrown piles and piles of money towards the peanut allergy because that’s a scary thing,” Pope said.
Currently the National Peanut Board is promoting the healthfulness of peanuts, as well as the importance of buying American grown peanuts.
Standards for peanut growers in other countries, especially for those that grow organic peanuts, may not be the same as the standards that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) places on American peanut growers. Since there is no way for the USDA to inspect other countries’ growing standards it is questionable whether some peanut products from foreign countries that are certified organic are organic at all.
The Department of Agriculture recently made a local attempt to promote peanut’s health benefits. The USDA created signs about the healthfulness of local peanuts, after seeing similar signs on North Carolina farms. These bright yellow signs can be seen in several local peanut fields.
“We just thought it would be a great thing for farmers to have on the side of the road,” Gail Milteer, a marketing specialist for the Department of Agriculture, said.
“So much is being developed in the peanut world,” agricultural advisor Bob Flippen said at the Peanut Festival board meeting.
One advancement that peanut farmers are excited about is the development of the high oleic peanut. The high oleic peanut has altered genes which give it a much longer shelf life.
The Peanut Festival board plans to have lots of nutrition information available to the public at this year’s Virginia Peanut Festival, on September 25-28. The peanut festival will start with a Kick-Off Kook-off on Thursday, September 25 from 6-8 p.m. The Kick-Off Kook-Off will showcase peanut recipes in three categories: main dish, appetizer, and desserts.The Emporia Downtown Development Association (EDDA) sponsors this event.
“We invite anyone who has a recipe with peanuts or peanut butter in it,” EDDA president Hannah Barrett said.
Dishes must use more than just peanut oil in them to be entered into this event. Anyone can enter the competition, by submitting a $10 entry fee. Awards will be given to the top three finalists in each category, plus a “Nutty Prize” will be given out. Spectators will judge the event by purchasing a tasting kit, $5 beforehand or $8 at the door. Entertainment will be provided, and wine will be available for purchase. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Civic Center Foundation.
The rest of the Virginia Peanut Festival events will kick off on Friday, September 26.
