Tag Archive for: peanuts

Brain Boon, Not Brainrot

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Maybe you’ve been hearing about brainrot; if you have a kid in the house, the odds go way up. My point in mentioning this is to suggest that peanuts don’t contribute to brainrot, but may be a brain boon as I talked about on Tuesday. The question was why?

Nutrients May Hold the Key

Peanuts, as well as other nuts, are high in the amino acid l-arginine. Nitric oxide (NO) increases dilation in blood vessels which help blood flow everywhere but especially to the heart and the brain. We usually associate nitrates from vegetables with that process, but there’s another pathway which uses arginine to increase NO levels as well. That could explain the increases in blood flow to the areas of the brain. The increase in NO could also partially explain the reduction in systolic blood pressure.

In addition, the fiber in peanuts, the antioxidant properties found in the peanut skin phytonutrients, and replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats may also have an impact on blood flow. The peanut skins contain resveratrol, a phytonutrient that has shown promise in reducing cardiovascular disease in general.

Carbohydrate intake increased while fat decreased during the eating-peanuts phase of the study. One of the key findings was that the unsaturated fats in the nuts replaced some of the saturated fats in the diet. Overall, the peanuts were beneficial.

Limitations with Hope

This was a small study with essentially healthy older adults; how that might work for people with disease must still be tested. The cost of the methodology using special MRI analytics limited how many subjects would be realistic to study, but there were at least some benefits in every category they tested. This shows that modifying the diet in just one area may be a step toward improving your health. There’s no reason not to try eating peanuts (unsalted or lightly salted is preferable) to see how it impacts us personally.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.10.020

Peanuts as Health Food!

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I’m Chet and I’m a salt-a-holic—specifically, nuts and especially peanuts—so when I caught a headline about peanuts in my research feed, I had to check it out. The title of the paper included the words “skin-roasted peanut consumption” so whatever the study was about, I was in. We hear a lot about peanut allergies, but today let’s look at potential health benefits.

Researchers in the Netherlands wanted to find out whether peanut consumption would have the same mpact on blood flow to the brain and improve memory as prior research had shown with other nuts. The 31 subjects, average age 67, served as their own controls. They ate 60 grams of unsalted skin-roasted peanuts (about a half cup) every day for 16 weeks, took 8 weeks off to washout any short-term benefits, and then ate no nuts for another 16 weeks.

The technology used in this study was astounding, from measuring blood flow to different areas of the brain using two different methods, food frequency questionnaires, cognitive tests, and even tests of strength. When all was said and done, there was about a 3.6% and 4.5% increase in blood flow to two regions of the brain, a 5 point drop in systolic blood pressure, and an improvement in cognitive testing.

The question is why? Why would eating roughly 340 calories of peanuts a day increase blood flow to the brain? We’ll cover that on Saturday.

In this current state of uncertain healthcare coverage, you need a personal advocate to help you make the right choices for your health. Tomorrow is the final Insiders Conference call for the year. We’re going to cover a variety of topics as well as answer Insider questions. Become an Insider by 8 p.m. tomorrow night, and you can take part.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2025.10.020

Research Update: Peanut Allergies

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Peanut allergies can result in some of the most severe allergic reactions including anaphylactic shock; it’s especially horrible when it happens to children. While research continues on how to overcome a present allergy to peanuts, the best option is to prevent the allergy from occurring. Recent research has shown that’s possible.

Peanut Exposure Early

Researchers decided to find out why Jewish children raised in Israel had fewer peanut allergies than children raised in the United Kingdom or the United States. In the Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) trial, researchers used 680 babies with allergies to one of two groups based on their reaction to a peanut pin-prick test. One group was given peanuts snacks beginning at 4 to 11 months old, and members of the other group were not exposed to peanuts. They tracked the children for five years and found that 13.7% of the children who weren’t exposed to peanuts developed peanut allergies, while only 1.7% who were exposed to peanuts early developed peanut allergies. This falls into the category of being a landmark study.

The guidelines for exposure to peanuts were changed in 2016 to encourage peanut exposure earlier in life.

Recent Research

Researchers followed groups of children in the U.S. diagnosed with atopic dermatitis from birth through three years old over two time frames: before the peanut exposure guidelines were introduced for one to two years and after the peanut guidelines were changed for one to two years. They used medical records for diagnoses and blood markers that indicate peanut sensitivity. There was a significant decrease in peanut allergy diagnoses in the follow-up period after the guidelines were introduced compared to before the guidelines. In plain language, when applied to the entire population of children in the U.S., that means thousands of children may never develop severe allergies to peanuts.

The Bottom Line

We want to protect our children, and especially their health. One possible way to protect them is to make sure they’re exposed to a varied diet. Before the Guidelines were changed, the objective was to limit their exposure to anything that might cause problems, but the LEAP study demonstrated that could be a mistake. Discuss potential allergies with your pediatrician if your child shows any signs of allergic reactions, including something relatively simple like a rash. Get their opinion on the best course of action related to food sensitivities. If a little exposure now prevents more serious issues later, that seems like the best course of action. But you have to do what you believe is in the best interest of your children—I wouldn’t make this change without consulting our pediatrician, and I hope you wouldn’t either.

One final note: this only applies to very young children. If they have already been diagnosed with severe peanut allergies, that’s a different issue. Make sure you follow procedures that your physician has recommended, and never leave the house without an EpiPen.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:
1. N Engl J Med 2015;372:803-813
2. Pediatrics (2025) 156 (5): e2024070516.