Peanuts Against Insulin Resistance!

Obviously, if you have a peanut allergy then this one is certainly not for you. Although, if that’s the case, then you might want to check out: Peanut Allergy Diagnoses Have Been Halved: What Did They Do? ← and for once no, the answer isn’t “they changed the testing/diagnostic criteria to get numbers that look better on paper”

And on which note, for much more detail than we can go into here, check out this excellent book that we reviewed a while back:

The End of Food Allergy: The First Program To Prevent And Reverse A 21st Century Epidemic – by Dr. Kari Nadeau & Sloan Barnett

It’s worth noting that with regard to the first-named author there, the bio begins:

❝Kari Nadeau, MD, PhD, is the director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University and is one of the world’s leading experts on food allergy❞

We mention this, because there’s a lot of quack medicine out there [in general, but especially] when it comes to things such as food allergies. So let’s be clear up front that Dr. Nadeau is actually a world-class professional at the top of her field.

So, assuming that peanuts are safe to eat for those of us for whom they are safe to eat, then… what’s this about peanuts against insulin resistance?

Peanuts pack a pretty protective punch

Researchers (Dr. Lucia Kerkhof et al.) did a a randomized, controlled crossover trial involving adults aged 60–75, who consumed 60 grams of unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts daily for 16 weeks, then switched to a control period without peanuts.

• What they measured: brain insulin responsiveness was measured using arterial spin labeling MRI to assess changes in regional cerebral blood flow following intranasal insulin administration, while abdominal MRI measured liver fat and cognitive performance was assessed using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery.
• What they found: peanut consumption improved insulin responsiveness in a region of the right brain encompassing parts of the lingual gyrus, hippocampus, parahippocampal gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus, which are all involved in memory

As for how this works, Dr. Kerkhof suggests that it’s likely because peanuts contain unsaturated fats, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals and bioactive phytochemicals, as well as plant-based protein and L-arginine, a precursor of nitric oxide that can support learning and memory.

You can read the paper in full, here: Daily consumption of unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts beneficially affects regional brain insulin responsiveness in older adults: results of a longer-term randomized controlled trial

Want to learn more?

To learn more about how to most easily and effectively manage your blood sugar levels, do swing by these previous main features of ours:

• Improve Your Insulin Sensitivity!10 Ways To Balance Blood SugarsEating For Energy (In Ways That Actually Work)Glycemic Index vs Glycemic Load vs Insulin IndexWhich Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?

And to learn much more deeply about this, check out this excellent book that we reviewed:

Why We Get Sick – by Dr. Benjamin Bikman ← this is about insulin resistance, and, importantly, the invisible insulin resistance that precedes blood sugar imbalances by many years (it goes unnoticed because the pancreas will dutifully keep cranking out more and more insulin to keep the blood sugars stable, until one day it just can’t keep up anymore, and then and only then does prediabetes get diagnosed)

Take care!