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Peanut skins have recently received quite a considerable share of attention due to recent studies uncovering that these mighty nutrient-packed snacks have hidden secrets within their skin. Peanuts contribute to good health due to their delicious fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. However, what about their skin?
Peanut skin isn’t bad if consumed in small amounts. Peanut skins are rich in antioxidants, essential nutrients, and fiber. However, they may kill helpful gut bacteria or block up your digestive system in large amounts.
Peanuts, in general, have been associated with numerous health benefits, and who doesn’t love peanut butter on toast? On the other hand, Peanut skins have brought up many questions for peanut consumers worldwide. This article will discuss common concerns around ingesting peanut skins and what health benefits they might have in store.
What Are the Main Concerns About Eating Peanut Skins?
New studies on peanuts and their skins are released every year. However, a few instances have brought up some health concerns surrounding their skins into the spotlight. Many peanut-loving fans have wondered whether peanut skins are safe to eat and why nobody ever mentions eating peanut skins.
The main concerns about eating peanut skins are that they are indigestible and may kill helpful gut bacteria. However, they only pose a threat to your digestive system if you eat large amounts of peanut skin.
Peanut Skins May Cause Intestinal Blockage
Eating large quantities of peanut skins can lead to intestinal blockages, considered a medical emergency. That’s because the human stomach cannot digest them.
Symptoms of intestinal blockage are highly uncomfortable and include vomiting, severe stomach pain, and inability to pass gas and stool.
Health experts are concerned that ingesting significant amounts of peanut skin can cause intestinal blockages due to our inability to digest it properly.
Peanut Skins Reduce Gut Bacteria
Peanut skins have researchers at the University of Maryland occupied with a significant health concern after finding that peanut skins significantly reduced the growth of Lactobacillus (a good gut bacteria) in our digestive systems.
However, peanut skins don’t just kill off lactobacillus. They reduce the entire population of microbes in our guts. So, if you have some harmful bacteria growing in your belly, peanut skins will help you get rid of them.
Is It Safe To Consume Peanut Skins?
With so many counterarguments around the safety of peanut skins, it’s hard to decide whether the good outweighs the bad. In the meantime, it’s best to consider eating the whole peanut with the skin and not just the skin.
It is safe to consume peanut skins in moderation. Peanuts with their skins have many benefits that should not be discounted or regarded as insignificant. They’re packed with multiple minerals and have proven to fight off certain illnesses.
Do Peanut Skins Contain Health Benefits?
The health benefits of peanut skins were understudied until recent analyses revealed how beneficial they could be.
Peanut skins contain health benefits. They are high in protein, antioxidants, and resveratrol, and they can balance your gut biome. Peanut skins can increase the nutritional contents of any dish and get incorporated into many peanut products like peanut butter and trail mix.
Experts recommend that the average adult eats a handful of peanuts or nuts every day to meet their nutritional requirements.
Although there’s a fair amount of concern surrounding the ingestion of peanut skins, there are still many health benefits that you can get from eating peanuts and their skins. Roasting peanuts with their skin has the same nutritional benefits as raw peanuts.
Protein-Rich Antioxidants
Compared to other antioxidant-rich foods like green tea, blueberries, and red wine, studies revealed that if you eat peanuts with their skins intact, it doubles the rich antioxidant capacity. Consuming antioxidant-rich foods can help battle many chronic diseases like heart disease and certain cancers.
Antioxidants help reduce illness by slowing and sometimes entirely preventing the damage to the body’s cells, mainly caused by free radicals.
High Fiber
Peanuts are incredibly high in fiber, which helps maintain regular bowel movements, reduce cholesterol, and control blood sugar levels.
Fiber is also known for its practical weight loss benefits. Indigestible fiber such as that found in peanut skins keeps you feeling full and helps control sugar and carb cravings, aiding in long-term weight loss.
Resveratrol
Peanut skins and other parts of the peanut contain reasonable amounts of resveratrol. Resveratrol is commonly found in wine and grape juice and has many health benefits like protection against Alzheimer’s and Diabetes.
However, the fascinating benefit of resveratrol in peanuts is that resveratrol is known for shutting off blood flow to cancerous cells to prevent certain cancers from growing and developing.
Gut Health
In the University of Maryland study, researchers reported that eating peanuts with their skins has proven to help your gut microbiome (the good bacteria) fight off bacteria like E.coli.
The study found that they inhibit the growth of all bacteria in the gut, which reduces the growth of harmful bacteria and inflammation. This study indicates that consuming recommended amounts of peanut skin can help balance your microbiome, but be sure not to overdo it.
Possible Medicinal Use of Peanut Skin
In 2020, a study published by the National Library of Medicine claimed that peanut skin extract has proven to ease the symptoms of type 2 diabetes in mice, working as an anti-diabetic.
The mice showed the following results: decreased food intake, blood glucose, and overall weight after giving the peanut skin extract.
The study strongly indicates that researchers might soon develop a cure for type 2 diabetes.
Conclusion
Whether or not you eat peanut skin depends on how you eat them.
Eating the whole peanut with its skin can be hugely beneficial to your health and help fight diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Even though there are some concerns on how peanut skin can negatively impact your digestive tract, the benefits still outweigh researchers’ concerns.
Doctors and experts recommend that adults include peanuts and other nuts in their diet, and unless they have a peanut allergy, they should be safe to consume, even with the skin.
