Peanuts

[subbacultcha]

I rarely see peanuts mentioned on this forum, and I know everyone uses almond butter instead of peanut butter - so are they not raw, or is there some other reason not to eat them? Before raw I was a huge PB (natural of course!) fan and it'd be nice if I could have peanuts again...

[livenraw]

During Christmas time-when they're available here-I'll buy some raw spanish peanuts and eat them.

But I've been told that peanuts are hard for the body to digest. Don't know if that's true or not but that's what I've been told. But I still eat my raw spanish peanuts.

[sfdreams]

I could be wrong, but I think most of the prepared PBs are made with roasted peanuts. Our local health food store has a machine where you press a switch and it grinds the nuts up into nut butter for you. They have peanuts, but not sure if they are toasted or not. I prefer almonds.

If you have the same thing at a local HF store, you could ask if the peanuts are raw.

[beppa66]

There are a few places online where you can buy raw jungle peanuts...never tried them, but always wanted to as I'm a big pb fan myself.

http://www.rawguru.com/store/raw-food/raw_wild_organic_jungle_peanuts.html

[subbacultcha]

Thanks. My hfs only stocks redskin peanuts, are they raw?

[Dylan]

most peanut products are roasted, and i've heard that almost ALL peanuts are contaminated with aflatoxin. I don't know about raw jungle peanuts, David Wolfe promotes them, but I like almond butter and other nuts so much more than peanuts that it doesn't bother me letting them go.

[beppa66]

Not me, give me some peanut butter & I'm one happy camper!!! M-M-M!

[Riiiya]

you know, i don't remember where i read/heard this.. but i can recall finding out that raw peanuts are somehow a bit toxic (!?) since they're legumes, not actual nuts... now, how true is that? hmm

p.s. well maybe that's what i was talking about:
A 1993 study demonstrated 24 different types of fungi that colonized the inside of the peanuts used in the report (Costantini, A. Etiology and Prevention of Atherosclerosis. Fungalbionics Series.1998/99). And this was after the exterior of the peanut was sterilized! So, when you choose to eat peanuts, not only are you potentially eating these molds, but also their mycotoxins.
http://www.mercola.com/2003/nov/5/toxic_foods.htm

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

I've had raw sprouted peanuts at a farmer's market. They weren't half bad!

[Hannah]

I was curious about this too - and its been a while since I asked the question/sought the answer, but I believe (if memory serves) that most (if not all) peanuts found in stores are heated, blanched or cooked in some manner because in their raw state they mold easily - much like rolled oat being steamed ... again its been a while, but I think that's why its tough to find raw peanuts (even the ones in shells) ... also peanuts and cotton are two crops that "require" :rolleyes: higher pesticide usage - and the nuts themselves absorb most of those chemicals, some say this is why there have been so many severe peanut allergies in the past few years. I hate to be a buzz kill (I love PB too!) Maybe check out wild jungle peanuts!

[subbacultcha]

Thanks for the info Hannah - its interesting about the peanut allergies, my brother has a severe peanut allergy... I guess it might not be the peanuts so much as the pesticides!