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what's wrong with peanuts?

Hi, this is my first post here. I am SO excited to be here, though I can't figure out some things, LOL. I went 100% raw four years ago and lost considerable amounts of weight. I felt great, looked great, everything was good. Then we could no longer afford so much raw food and I gained back all the weight I lost. I am currently at 186lbs. I am going raw for my health and to lose weight, to get back down to my regular size 4/118lbs (I'm 5'3").So I started four days ago and I am doing great. I have my raw food books in the mail on their way here, I have a kitchen stocked full of numerous raw fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds. I'm ready to DO THIS. But...I still eat a lot of peanut butter. I get the natural, fresh-ground kind that is just pure peanuts, however they are roasted. I still do great on a raw diet while eating copious amounts of peanut butter, but I thought I remembered reading in one of the raw foods books that peanuts are bad for you. I don't want to be eating them if they will be detrimental to my health. SO...give it to me, please. What's the low-down on peanuts?

Comments

  • joannabananajoannabanana Raw Newbie

    the only raw ones you can get are wild jungle peanuts and they are pretty pricey. i've never had them solely for that reason. i think the main problem is the fat. you don't want to much in your diet, but just enough to make you feel satisfied and not feel like you're depriving yourself... that always leads to binging (at least with me). you don't have to be 100% raw if you don't want to be. it's just a stupid number. it's about how you feel and if you feel good eating it, then i'd say you should continue.

  • I agree with joannabanana when she stated that you don't have to be 100% raw. I went raw in the summer and my weight got down to 119lbs (from 130) and I am also 5'3.'. But I felt that I looked too sickly and thin so I increased fats to put on a bit more weight and am now sitting at a very healthy 125lbs and loving how I feel. In the summer it was so easy to eat 100% raw but now I am about 3/4 raw because of the frigid cold temperatures here in Canada. I am still a vegan and eat strict enough but I don't stress that I am not 100% raw. I love nuts and avocadoes and I don't see anything wrong with eating peanuts. I don't always eat raw nuts and I can afford to but I sometimes choose not to spend that extra money on them and I don't make a big deal of it. I don't think nuts are bad for you. I have an 85 year old uncle that has been a vegan his whole entire life and has lived off of nuts, seeds, veggies and fruits. He has never had any health problems and he eats roasted nuts and peanut butter all of the time. Both of his siblings ate SAD and had horrible health problems and died in their early 70's. My point is that there is good and bad in all lifestyles. We have to remember that we as vegans and raw vegans primarily eat veggies and fruits as the bulk of our meals and having a little peanut butter or other fats is needed. We need fats for survival and we need the calories for our bodies to function optimally. The last thing you want to do is put your body into starvation mode. I have olive oil on my salads everyday and I eat avocadoes almost everyday. If I feel like nut butter or peanut butter, I will have it. I am in the best physical shape of my life and I am an athlete so I need my calories. I also have great teeth, skin, and hair and my digestion works great compared to last year when I was eating an athletes high protein diet. I get complimented on my skin and hair regularly. My hairdresser has noticed a huge difference in my hair and comments on it all the time. I swear it is the fats.

    Anyway, sorry for the book but my point is do what makes you feel good and healthy. Alot of stuff out there is people's opinions. Every 'body' is different. What works for you may not work for me and vice versa.

    Good luck and welcome!

  • freewitheftfreewitheft Raw Newbie

    I'm curious myself here. I'm not 100% raw either, and I like having some nuts as well and I know cashews aren't truly raw (my favorite!). I thought, though, that peanuts in particular were prone to mold problems. Can someone correct me if I'm wrong? If that's the case, I highly recommend sunbutter instead. I try to have just a little here and there, but I have to say I'm finding it sooooooo yummy, especially on bananas. lol

  • ambiguousambiguous Raw Newbie

    Peanuts are known to harbor aflatoxin, which is a product of fungus growth. However, lots of other nuts harbor aflatoxin as well. There's an informative PDF here: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/summarynuts.pdf - in this study, it was brazil nuts, pistachios, and almonds that tested the highest for aflatoxin--not peanuts. Note that it was a relatively small study.

    Obviously there are also plenty of people who are literally deathly allergic to peanuts, which I think makes many people wary of them.

    You'll find plenty of people at goneraw who vilify all nuts, so be prepared. I think that no matter what it is, if you feel good eating something that doesn't cause harm to others, you should do it. The whole point of being raw is not to be raw, but to be healthy.

  • Tukiville and Ambiguous, I love what you both wrote. Voices of reason! Each person has to figure out what's right for their body; we are not "one size fits all". I've stayed away from this site for quite a while because I've really been turned off by the dogma that seems to dominate so many threads. In the end, it's about listening to your body and intuiting what it needs.

  • LilEarthMuffinLilEarthMuffin Raw Newbie

    Mon46 well said! Ive noticed a lot of people on here are very judgemental and rightous when it comes to raw foods. Some put down others who are not 100%. We need to remember we are all different, and that what works for one person might not work for another. The dogma is actually a reason ive stayed on here, i want to make sure that people who come looking for advice get it, nut just harsh judgements from others.

     

  • Thank you, Lil Earth Muffin. I also think you have the right attitude, and your decision to stay on the site is a good one. Happy holidays!

  • emtpdmomemtpdmom Raw Newbie

    Regarding raw peanuts, I am able to purchase them fairly fresh from the field and still in the shell from a roadside fresh market in Northwest Florida. I shell, soak and sprout them (just to a nub). Then I dehydrate them to a reasonable crunch. Before raw, a favorite snack was dry roasted, unsalted peanuts. It took a while, but I find these quite satisfying now.

    I'll have to research the aflatoxin issue a bit more, but a quick search indicates that the mold/fungus occurs during the production and processing of nuts imported from the tropics.

  • I remember reading somewhere that peanuts are toxic and indigestible. Fuck it, I eat 'em anyway! :)

  • rawpretzelarawpretzela Raw Newbie

    So... We can eat peanuts??? Because since I became 100% raw vegan I haven

  • I heard that peanuts in the US are heavily sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals to prevent fungi growth.

    Not saying it's true. But if you likr your peanut products than go at it!

    Personally I stay away from commercial peanuts especially. Peanut butters are usually hydrogenated and very bad for the health.

  • Peanuts are often grown alongside cotton, which is the most heavily chemical treated crop in the world when not organic. So that's dodgy for a start. Also, disregard my post further up there. Recently peanuts have begun to mess with my bowels a bit when I eat them. And on top of that, they're practically impossible to get raw anyway, they're nearly always roasted whether it's made clear or not.

  • Fat is not all bad, the problem is that peanuts are ALL Omega 6's And raw peanuts(not nut, actually beans) have a great potential for contamination.

  • I found peanuts gave me alot of headaches and acne. Especially peanut butter..

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