Peanuts are not only a highly nutritious food but also a valuable medicinal health supplement. Their seeds, seed coats, shells, and oil all possess medicinal properties.
Nutritional Value of Peanuts
Promotes Growth and Development
Peanuts are rich in calcium. Regular consumption ensures adequate calcium intake, supporting healthy growth and development.
Boosting Cellular Development and Cognitive Function
Peanut protein contains over ten essential amino acids. Lysine enhances children's intelligence, while glutamic acid and aspartic acid promote cellular development and strengthen memory retention.
Anti-Aging and Anti-Premature Aging
Peanuts contain choline and lecithin, which are rare in most grains. These promote metabolism, enhance memory, and support nervous system function, thereby boosting intelligence, combating aging, and extending lifespan. Hence, peanuts are also known as the "fruit of longevity."
Moisturizing the Lungs and Relieving Coughs
Peanut oil moisturizes the lungs and alleviates coughs due to its high fat content, proving effective against coughing and wheezing.
Coagulation and Hemostasis
Peanuts possess hemostatic properties. Their outer skins contain components that counteract fibrinolysis, improve platelet quality, and enhance capillary contraction. They are useful for preventing and treating hemophilia, primary or secondary thrombocytopenic purpura, postoperative bleeding, tumor hemorrhages, and internal bleeding from organs such as the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and uterus.
Preventing Cardiovascular Diseases
Peanuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, choline, lecithin, and other nutrients that enhance capillary elasticity. They help prevent heart disease, hypertension, and cerebral hemorrhage by inhibiting cholesterol deposition and accumulation in blood vessels that lead to arteriosclerosis. Peanut shells contain luteolin and beta-sitosterol, which lower blood pressure and reduce blood lipids.
Nourishing Blood and Promoting Lactation
Rich in fatty oils and protein, peanuts nourish qi and blood, promote blood circulation, and enhance lactation for postpartum women with insufficient milk supply.
Preventing Skin Diseases
Peanuts strengthen epidermal tissue and prevent bacterial invasion, making them useful for preventing skin aging, eczema, psoriasis, and other skin conditions.
Detoxification and Weight Management
Experts explain that while high-fat foods like peanuts and peanut butter are commonly perceived as weight-gain culprits, research indicates regular consumption may actually aid weight loss. Despite their caloric content, these products promote satiety, helping dieters control appetite.Nutritionists have discovered that high-quality peanuts, peanut oil, and other peanut products contain folate—a nutrient rich in monounsaturated fatty acids. These acids enhance calorie expenditure, burn harmful cholesterol, and lower high blood lipids. Peanuts also provide beneficial fiber that cleanses intestinal waste without contributing to weight gain.Eating peanuts and peanut butter easily induces satiety, helping control appetite—making them ideal for lazy weight loss.
Benefits and Functions of Peanuts
Peanuts are sweet in taste and neutral in nature; they enter the spleen and lung meridians. They fortify the spleen and nourish the stomach, moisten the lungs, and resolve phlegm. They primarily address spleen deficiency with impaired transport, stomach discomfort, insufficient lactation in nursing mothers, beriberi, dry lung cough, and constipation.
1. Promotes Growth and Development
Rich in vitamins and minerals, peanuts support human growth and development.
2. Enhances Brain Health and Cognitive Function
Promotes cell development and boosts intelligence. Peanut protein contains over ten essential amino acids, including lysine which enhances children's cognitive abilities, while glutamic acid and aspartic acid stimulate cell growth and strengthen memory retention.
3. Delaying Aging
The catechins in peanuts possess potent anti-aging effects, while lysine is a key component in preventing premature aging. Regular peanut consumption helps delay aging, earning them the nickname "longevity nuts."
4. Moisturizing the Lungs and Relieving Coughs
Rich in fatty oils, peanuts help moisturize the lungs and alleviate coughs. They are commonly used to treat chronic coughs, wheezing, and coughing up blood-tinged phlegm.