The food item that has the low-carb world divided

THANKS TO THEIR MULTIPLE HEALTH BENEFITS, THEIR RELATIVELY LOW-CARB AND HIGH-FAT CONTENT, NUTS AND SEEDS ARE A POPULAR CHOICE FOR THOSE FOLLOWING A LOW-CARB OR PALEO LIFESTYLE. THIS IS GREAT NEWS FOR ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER LOVERS… RIGHT? WELL, NOT NECESSARILY.

‘H ere’s the thing about peanuts: they’re not nuts. Peanuts are legumes, which are generally not considered LCHF because they tend to be high in carbs.

Additionally, peanuts have a different fat content when compared to ‘real’ nuts. While macadamias, almonds and pecans are high in omega-3 fatty acids, peanuts contain more omega-6 fatty acids, which can be problematic when following a lowcarb diet to address conditions where inflammation is an issue.

So does this mean you can’t have any peanuts if you follow an LCHF/Paleo lifestyle?

Experts in the field differ on this. Some opinions are based on scientific research done in a clinical trial setting, while others are based purely on anecdotal reports.

According to Dr Anthony Gustin, a leading low-carb diet expert, many commercially made peanut butters are made from ground peanuts, oil (often hydrogenated soybean or canola oil), salt, and either sugar or corn syrup. Gustin says the added sugar and inflammatory oils override any significant health benefits.

Professor Tim Noakes, author and LCHF expert, has even more alarming concerns; he suggests that an excessive intake of peanut butter may increase your risk of Alzheimer’s disease. This theory was examined by the Neurology journal, which found that people with a diet characterised by regular use of omega-6-rich foods (like peanuts) and a lack of omega3-rich oils (salmon, olive oil, almonds, etc.) were twice as likely to develop dementia than those who didn’t eat omega-6-rich foods.

Dr Dwight Lundell, former chief of surgery at Banner Heart Hospital in Arizona, agrees with Noakes. Lundell, a veteran of 5 000 open-heart surgeries over 25 years, is convinced that blood cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, and that the recommended cholesterol-lowering diets have actually created the current obesity and diabetes epidemics.

The real cause of heart disease, says Lundell, is inflammation in the artery walls. Without inflammation, cholesterol simply

can’t accumulate. So where is this inflammation coming from? According to Lundell and others, from eating excessive amounts of sugar, refined and processed carbs, as well as omega-6-rich foods like peanuts and vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower.

Other experts disagree. New York-based dietician Dara Godfrey says that ‘peanut butter can certainly be a part of a lowcarb healthy fat/keto diet, since it contains mostly fats and protein, with very little carbohydrate’.

Franziska Spritzler, dietician, author and founder of the KetoDiet app, encourages the inclusion of peanuts in an LCHF diet. ‘Peanuts contain a number of antioxidants in the polyphenol family, including coumaric acid,’ says Spritzler. ‘These polyphenol have been found to protect against free radicals: unstable molecules that can damage cells. This is true for both conventional peanuts and those higher in oleic acid, the primary monounsaturated fat found in peanuts.’

A study published in 2017 also revealed positive feedback for peanuts. In the study, 46g per day of peanuts and/or peanut butter added to an American Diabetes Association (ADA) diet for 24 weeks increased the ratio of nutrients with cardioprotective properties compared to a peanut-free diet in adults with type 2 diabetes.

So what’s the verdict? Are we stocking up on jars of crunchy PB or chucking them in the bin?

Do not panic. There will always be differing views when it comes to clinical medicine and the role of nutrition.

If peanuts and peanut butter are something you enjoy, feel free to incorporate them into your low-carb lifestyle. IN MODERATION

You should limit yourself to a tablespoon of dry, roasted peanuts every so often – especially if you are type 2 diabetic, hypertensive and/or significantly overweight. To help prevent a spike in inflammatory omega-6 fatty acid levels, try to balance the high ratio of these potentially harmful fatty acids in peanuts by including omega-3-rich foods in your diet, such as salmon and spinach.

Avoid honey-roasted peanuts and other flavoured options; these generally have many more added sugars and starches. When it comes to peanut butter, shop for ones that contain as few ingredients as possible – or make your own!

Be on the lookout for overly processed, prepackaged peanut butter – even when it is labelled as ‘all-natural’ – as it may still contain added sugars and carbs.