CHECKMATE PEANUT BUTTER HATERS!

So I was going to do a blog post on sugar alcohols for Ana and I promise I will soon, but I had to take a brief detour. My wonderful paleoheads are always screaming about peanuts not being a true nut. Peanuts are a legume, much like beans and peas. And as you may or may not know, legumes are illegal to paleoheads. What are the reasons?

1. Peanuts may contain substances called aflatoxins that have shown to cause liver cancer in lab rats. 

2. Peanuts contain lectins that could pass over your gut barrier causing heart disease, and also could lead to colon cancer.

My response:

1. Peanut butter is awesome.

2. Almond and other nut butters taste like ass.

OK, let me try this:

1. Aflatoxins come from mold. They can also be found in walnuts, pistachios and pecans. Those are legal in paleo, right? Aflatoxins have more to do with poor food storage than peanuts. 

2. The peanut agglutinin (lectin) studies exist. But for every study the paleoheads find, I'll find another. Like this one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1512792

Now if you don't want to bore yourself and read that, let's try this: 

IMPLICATIONS: It is possible that dietary lectins such as PNA, which bind to the TF antigen, promote cell proliferation and thus cancerous growth, while galactose-containing vegetable fiber would inhibit this effect by competing for binding by these lectins. 


Simple terms? The study actually does say PNA can cause cancer growth. It also states that vegetables with galactose, or better yet, high in galactose, would bind with PNA, preventing that cancer growth. Any clue what vegetable is highest in galactose? YEP. Celery. Check mate paleoheads. It turns out Nathan's favorite, "ants on a log" is super awesome after all. Who knew the celery always served a purpose other than shoveling more peanut butter into my mouth. 

And if you don't eat your peanut butter with celery? My advice? Relax.

Most paleoheads should look into this: http://www.orthorexia.com/

Our bodies are designed to fight toxins. ALL THE TIME.  And with a little help from a balanced diet consisting of plenty of vegetables, most of us can enjoy our peanut butter. Anyone else craving some PB&C?