While I was never a big peanut butter fan, I did enjoy eating salted peanuts and boiled peanuts from time to time. But because both contained excessive amounts of salt (man-made salt), I usually suffered headaches as a result. Luckily the salt got my attention before all the other things associated with peanut consumption.
 My father's side of the family was from Mississippi and they had a little delicacy they used to make from time to time. They would pour a large bag of raw (uncooked) peanuts into a large pot, fill it up with water, and bring it to a boil. While boiling, they would literally add a half a box (or damn near the whole box of salt) to the peanuts and water and stir continually. After an hour (or perhaps two, as its been years since I made them myself), you let the peanuts cool down; and at room temperature, you can eat them. They were very delicious due to the salt taste. Because they were boiled, the peanuts were soft.
This was a nice delicacy for us growing up, but it taught me very early lessons of too much salt as I experienced headaches after eating a lot of these boiled salted peanuts.
The astrological sign 'Taurus' has a connection to sodium; too little or too much sodium will do us in negatively. I have learned this my entire life thus far on Earth.
It's also funny when I think back on the times when my father or uncles were making this delicacy and while pouring a lot of salt into the pot they would always look at you (the children present in the kitchen) and warn you that "too much salt ain't good for you, it'll give you high blood pressure." But despite this sound medical advice, it didn't stop them from pouring half a box of that poisonous Morton's brand table salt, the worst salt on the market, into the boiling peanuts.
It's funny when I think about my childhood days in South Los Angeles, Compton, Lynwood, and Watts, California, because I remember how grown-ups always gave sound health advice to us children (my cousins, my siblings, and myself) but never applied such health advice to them selves. You'd hear: "Don't ya'll ever smoke! Smoking is bad for you!" But the person (aunt or uncle) saying this always had a cigarette in their mouth while giving the advice.
You'd also hear (especially from Uncle Arthur Lee): "Don't ya'll drink alcohol! Alcohol will mess your mind up!" And as children, we'd be like, "Uncle Arthur Lee, then why you drinking?" Uncle Arthur Lee would then get very mad at us and curse us out.
The above reminds me of a scene in a favorite movie of mines, Bill Duke's "Deep Cover" when Larry Fishburne's father was about to rob a store during Christmas time in the very beginning of the movie. Before he goes into the store to rob it for cash, he snorts some cocaine (or some drug) and then looks at his son and tells him "Boy, don't you ever do this, you hear me?" This scene was so funny to me because it always triggers flashbacks of my father and my aunts and uncles and how they too always gave sound health advice while they themselves were doing something unsound to their own health simultaneously.
Growing up in the hood, we learned firsthand that with adults, its "do as I say, not as I do."
Yes, I used to enjoy eating peanuts until I learned of the deleterious effects of this little nut.
I used to enjoy Cracker Jack, chocolate nutty ice cream bars, Hershey's chocolate bars with peanuts, Reese's peanut butter cups, Mr. Good Bar chocolate bar, and just about everything else that had peanuts in it.
Health Risks of Peanut Butter
Number one, the peanut, of all nuts, is very hard on the digestive system. I know they taste good and certain sporting events (i.e. baseball) may not be the same without them; but nevertheless, they are hard on the digestion.
 In addition to being hard on the digestive system, peanuts contain a carcinogen. This carcinogen is called an 'aflotoxin' and has been found in virtually all peanut butter brands on the market:
"A study was performed by Consumers Union showed that the major brands such as Jif, Peter Pan, and Skippy had less of the aflotoxin than store brands. The biggest offender turned out to be the freshly ground peanut butter in health food stores, which had ten times the levels of the major brands. The U.S. government allows no more than 20 parts per billion (ppb) of aflotoxin, which members of the health field feel is too high. According to Consumers Union, eating levels that contain an average of 2 ppb of aflotoxin every 10 days will result in a cancer risk of 7 in a million. This is a higher risk that exists from most pesticides in foods." - Dr. Myles H. Bader
Peanuts, if not masticated well, can lodge in the intestines and contribute to diverticulitis and diverticulosis. So if you eat peanuts or will continue to eat them, make sure to masticate (chew) them well.
Peanut butter also contains hydrogenated oil. The process of hydrogenation keeps the oil in suspension. Hydrogenation made peanut butter one of America's most popular foods. However, hydrogenation plays a role in the development of major diseases that impair overall health and wellbeing.
Beanut butter is not a better substitute for peanut butter. Beanut butter is really soybean butter and I do not advocate a lot of soy consumption though it is a favorite product in health circles and the number one transitional food for the majority of vegan and vegetarians.
Soy allows the average vegan to enjoy a good burger without eating dead cow's flesh (beef) as well as eating substitute versions of many former beloved meat products, i.e. chicken nuggets, breakfast sausage patties, turkey, bologna salami, ham, etc.
However, soy too is hard on the digestive tract and that's why I advocate eating only a little soy; and if you can do without soy products, then do so!
One of the worst oils to consume or use for cooking is peanut oil. It ranks with cottenseed oil, canola oil, and palm kernel oil as deleterious and insalubrious cooking oils. Insalubrious oils such as peanut oil damage the myelin sheath in the brain and causes nerve damage over time. However, peanut oil is far better or salubrious than cottonseed, canola, and soybean oil.
Peanut sauce is a favorite product in Asian culture. Thai restaurants use peanut sauce to top some of their dishes and also use it as a salad dressing. I have noticed that peanut sauces are very sweet due to the use of white table sugar, which really makes peanut sauce one to avoid, at least by health conscious individuals. If you eat peanut sauce just a few times a year, like when you dine at a Thai restaurant occasionally, there's really no major cause for concern. But if you eat a lot of this stuff coupled with other peanut products, then you're putting yourself at risk over time.
Origins of Peanut Butter
Peanut butter was invented by George Washington Carver (1864-1943), an American botanist and educator who did wonders with the peanut and who had over 300 uses for the nut. But it was Dr. Ambrose Straub of St. Louis, Missouri, who in 1890 made a batch of peanut butter for elderly patients who could not chew so well, that got peanut butter but its fame. He made the batch of peanut butter for purposes of protein.
Dr. Straub went on to patent a peanut grinding mill in 1903 and one year later peanut butter was introduced to the public in the United States at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Facts About Peanut Butter
Peanut butter must be at least 90% peanuts to use the term "peanut butter."
More than 50% of the peanut crop in the United States goes for peanut butter production.
Myths About Peanuts
Contrary to the individuals who believe such due to theological and religious beliefs (contracts, agreements) exclusively, eating nuts (including peanuts) do not take five years off your life (as if this could really be measured). No scientific data or evidence exists to support such assertion.
Peanut Butter Alternatives
Today, we have a variety of exceptional peanut butter substitutes on the market today that can be found at most good health food stores (i.e., Whole Foods Market, Nature Mart, New Frontiers, Wild Oats, Sevenanda, Papa John's, Natural Grocer, etc.).
Alternative and healthier butters include hemp seed butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter, pistachio butter, walnut butter, and cashew butter.
I used to make hemp seed butter for my daughter, Layla, when she was a baby and she loved it. Hemp seed butter by far would have to be the best alternative butter on the market that you could consume. It is a great source of amino acids (for purposes of protein), contains all 3 beneficial essential fatty acids (Omega 3, Omega 6, and Omega 9), and contains moderate amounts of minerals and trace elements. It has a great taste as well!
Almond butter is also a great tasting butter, as well as cashew butter.
These butters are great for sandwiches, for crackers (whole grain type crackers), and vegetable sticks.
They are not hard on the digestive system like peanuts.
If you don't live in a large city or major metropolis in the U.S., you can contact certain manufactures and inquire about getting bottles directly delivered to your door.
There are a few major alternative butter manufacturing companies listed in our Alternative Diet and Lifestyle Manual (under "Alternative Food Brands") available on-line @ www.dherbs.com/store (Online Store).
You can even make these alternative butters at home by simply blending your choice of seeds or nuts (SOAKED over night) in a blender (preferably a Vita-Mixer blender).
We list the recipe for these alternative butters in our Alternative Diet and Lifestyle Manual. However, they're really easy to make.
In conclusion, this article does not indict all nuts, only the peanut. I highly advise eating raw, organic nuts and seeds, as most are highly nutritious.
Thank you for reading!
This article compliments of www.dherbs.com. |
