Peanut Oil health benefits includes controlling cholesterol levels, may help prevent cancer, can help lower blood pressure, helps promote good skin, helps relieve constipation, improves blood flow, helps preserve neurological function, may be used to relieve arthritis pain, helps soothe dandruff, promotes health of hair, and helps manage acne.
What is Peanut Oil?
Peanuts are widely consumed and available the world over, and are known to possess health benefits that most people can use to optimize their quality of living. Known scientifically as Arachis hypogaea, the peanut is not actually a nut, but rather a legume like various types of peas. The peanut seems to have originated in the Northern part of Argentina, and is today commonly cultivated in many sub-tropical climates.
Over time, extraction of oil from the peanut began, and today it is one of the most common vegetable oils used in cooking and for various other purposes. The oil makes it extremely convenient to experience the benefits it has on offer, eliminating your excuses from not consuming it either.
Peanut oil is also known as arachis or groundnut oil in some places, and is used frequently in Asian cooking, and for exotic meals thanks to its unique flavor. Regardless, its health benefits are what most people are after. Not sure what it can do for you? You’re in luck. Read on and discover how this tasty oil can improve your health!
Nutritional Value of Peanut Oil
Here is a chart showing the nutritional value of peanut oil per 100 grams:
| Nutrient | Amount per 100g |
|---|---|
| Calories | 884 kcal |
| Water | 0 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Total Fat | 100 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17.00 g |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 46.20 g |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 32.00 g |
| Carbohydrates | 0 g |
| Sugars | 0 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Vitamin E | 15.69 mg (104% DV) |
| Vitamin K | 0 µg |
| Omega-3 Fatty Acids | 0 g |
| Omega-6 Fatty Acids | 32 g |
| Sodium | 0 mg |
Peanut oil is a high-calorie oil that contains mostly unsaturated fats, with a large proportion of monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (specifically omega-6 fatty acids). It is also a good source of Vitamin E, providing more than 100% of the daily recommended value per 100 grams. Peanut oil contains no protein, carbohydrates, or dietary fiber.
11 Amazing Health Benefits of Peanut Oil
1. Can Help Control Cholesterol Levels
There is a major myth that peanut oil adversely affects your cholesterol levels, though this is false for the majority of people. In reality, peanut oil can help to reduce cholesterol levels, since they contain phytosterols that are plant based compounds that help to reduce cholesterol levels. Phytosterols inhibit the absorption of cholesterol and promote its excretion, effectively reducing cholesterol levels by as much as 15% overtime.
2. May Help Prevent Cancer
Recently, there has been a lot of negative press surrounding synthetic vegetable oils, even though peanut oil should be exempt from the criticisms. Peanut oil is rich in anti-oxidants, most notably resveratrol, which is a super health promoting compound that is associated with grapes and red wine. Unknown to many, peanuts are good sources of this compound, which help to eliminate free radicals that can cause cancerous changes to occur at the cellular level. This makes peanut oil an anti-inflammatory oil, in stark contrast to many other vegetable oils which are regarded as pro-inflammatory.
3. Can Help To Lower Blood Pressure
Resveratrol also has additional effects that extend beyond anti-oxidant actions, as it can help to control blood pressure as well. A hormone known as angiotensin plays an important role in constricting blood vessels, leading to increases in blood pressure. However, this same mechanism is what causes high blood pressure to occur, as often this hormone works overtime when it shouldn’t be. Resveratrol is able to counteract the effects of this hormone, reducing the stress placed on your heart to pump blood under high pressure.
4. Helps Promote Good Skin
Using peanut oil daily in your cooking offers excellent support for the health of your skin, since it contains a high amount of vitamin E, but it can also be applied to the skin daily to prevent excessive UV damage. Purified peanut oil is virtually devoid of any odors, so you will not walk around smelling like peanuts if you use an oil that has been extracted properly. It also functions as an excellent moisturizing agent to prevent excess drying out of the skin.
5. Helps Relieve Constipation
While most oils can be used to remedy constipation, they are not ideal and often end up shooting off in the opposite end of the spectrum, causing diarrhea. As little as a teaspoon of peanut oil may be sufficient to relieve constipation, even better when combined with adequate water intake.
6. May Improve Blood Flow
Peanut oil is a rich source of linoleic acid, a precursor fatty acid of chemical mediators in the body known as prostaglandins. Prostaglandins have numerous functions in the body, but among them are dilation of peripheral arteries, improving blood flow in the process. This typically also contributes to lowering of blood pressure, and could explain another mechanism besides resveratrol’s effect on blood pressure.
7. May Help To Preserve Neurological Function
Neurological decline occurs normally with advancing age, but may be accelerated under the influence of excess oxidation. Peanut oil is known to be an anti-oxidant oil, and thanks to the presence of resveratrol, it is able to exert even greater potential in preservation of neurological function. Red wine is touted as an effective deterrent to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, largely because of its resveratrol content.
8. May Be Used To Relieve Arthritis Pain
Peanut oil possesses anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain relieving) properties that can be applied topically to affected joints to relieve the classic manifestations of arthritis afflicted joints. While it can be massaged as-is, you can also mix into a petroleum jelly base, or warm the oil before application to either prolong the time it spends in contact with the joint, or to improve circulation- both of which may aid the pain relief process.
9. Can Be Applied To The Scalp To Soothe Dandruff
Dandruff is often times causes by excessive production of sebum from the scalp, or can even be precipitated by use of hair products that one is relatively allergic to, resulting in a condition known as seborrheic dermatitis. The result is rapid accumulation of dead skin cells that clump together and push upwards, producing the need to scratch and manifesting as dry, white itchy patches. Peanut oil hydrates the scalp, can reduce sebum production and in turn tends to decrease the accumulation of these flakes.
10. Useful For Promoting Health Of Your Hair
More and more hair care brands have begun including peanut oil in their products, simply because it shows great promise in helping to benefit multiple aspects of hair health. For example, products containing peanut oil have been shown to reduce split ends, which is typically indicative of a protein deficiency. Peanut oil, also contains generous linoleic acid, which helps to improve blood flow to the scalp via production of the prostaglandins. This also contributes to reversing hair loss, especially in women who do not often experience male pattern baldness (which is for the most part irreversible). Finally, peanut oil prevents excessive loss of moisture from the hair and scalp, and keeps your hair looking rich and vibrant all day long. Not dry and frizzy and desperately waiting for a downpour of rain to fix you up!
11. Can Help Manage Acne
Peanut oil combined with a few drops of lemon juice reportedly has great efficacy on reducing acne breakouts and shrinking pores, thanks to the astringent nature of lemon as well. Peanut oil also helps to reduce bacterial colonies, and can reduce pimples and inflammation. Scarring is subsequently minimized and skin appearance stays smooth and adequately hydrated.
Conclusion
Peanut oil is an often overlooked oil when it comes to health, but is actually superior to many synthetically produced vegetable oil when it comes down to it. Just ensure that you are not allergic to peanuts, since the oil maintains many of its constituent amino acids in its chemical structure. Peanut oil is excellent for adding a “nutty” flavor to lightly cooked meals and salads, especially when the nuts were roasted prior to oil extraction.
