My arch enemy - Peanuts
Image by Robert Owen-Wahl from Pixabay
Peanuts are not nuts but legumes and grow underground, and as such contain more carbohydrates than nuts.
They are cheap for food manufacturers to use in their products and are often used as a filler in processed foods.
In the UK we ( some of us at any rate ) still mourn the loss of the ‘marathon chocolate bar’ which is now re-branded to be that of the ubiquitous ‘Snickers’ bar. This was a chocolate bar with peanuts in it and was a favorite of mine as a child. Made so yummy as it had sugar, carbs and cheap chocolate in it so became a regular, affordable addition to a mid day lunch.
Bags of peanuts I have eaten at truly industrial scale, thinking it to be a healthy option, failing to realize the addictive nature of the combination of peanut, processed oil and salt.
We need salt and we need healthy fats that are not manufactured in some hyper industrial way but also not in the combination that is found in commercially made peanuts, peanut butter and peanut oil.
So when I was measuring my glucose levels at the beginning of my adopting low carb as a way of life, I saw increases in blood sugar when eating peanuts in any form. There is something in the processing of packet peanuts though that makes you eat more than you need, leading to raised glucose simply by volume of consumption. The perfect product for food manufacturers as they have sold us something we want to then consume more of.
As they do not grow ‘over ground’ they tend to fall into the category of foods that tend to be starchier and higher in carbs. This is another rule of thumb that the keto folks use to distinguish things that will potentially raise blood sugar levels by their nature.
So peanuts are for now a thing of the past for me but everyone has to make a choice to make and where some foods, for whatever reason encourage over eating then continued, uncontrolled consumption needs to be curtailed or, as I have in the case of peanuts, stopped altogether.