Contact: Michael Bernstein 'Bald' peanuts: Tasty treats turn out to be healthy, too
People in the southern states love to snack on “bald peanuts.” No, not peanuts that lost their hair, but boiled peanuts — peanuts boiled in a pot of hot, salted water. Now there’s news that boiled peanuts might also contain higher amounts of substances that can help prevent diseases than regular peanuts. We’re a nation of peanut lovers. The average person eats about 7 pounds of peanuts each year. Peanuts actually are beans that grow in the ground. They are not nuts, like walnuts or pecans, that come from trees. Peanuts right out of the ground, which are called raw peanuts, look and taste a little like raw lima beans. Most of the peanuts we eat by the handful, in peanut butter, or candy bars, have been roasted in ovens. Dr. Lloyd Walker, a scientist from Alabama A&M University, wanted to see if boiled peanuts might be healthier than roasted peanuts. His findings certainly are a treat for “bald” peanut lovers. Dr. Walker discovered that boiling is a very healthy way to prepare peanuts. His study, in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that boiled peanuts have four times as many healthful chemical ingredients called isoflavones (ice-oh-flav-ohns) as raw peanuts or oil- and dry-roasted peanuts. These chemicals may help to keep people healthy and prevent dangerous illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. ###
The American Chemical Society — the world’s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
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