A recent Whole9 post entitled The Peanut Manifesto shed light on why peanuts and peanut butter are not recommended.

• Peanuts are not nuts at all but actually legumes, edible seeds enclosed in pods.  The confusion stems from the peanuts’ usage in diet and cuisine because it is similar that of other nuts, while the actual physical structure and nutritional benefit is that of a legume.
• Legumes contain lectins which have been associated with aggravation of inflammatory and digestive diseases in the human body.  Many lectins can be toxic, inflammatory, or both to humans and most times these harmful lectins are resistant to both cooking and one’s digestive enzymes.  Lectins act as a Trojan Horse that allow harmful proteins to be absorbed by our gut lining.  These harmful proteins can be found in the bloodstream in as little as 1-4 hours after eating peanuts.  Consistent exposure to these lectins persistently stimulates the body’s defense mechanism in a dysfunctional manner, increasing the possibility of developing autoimmune disorders (allergies fall into this category).
• Peanuts also tend to harbor a carcinogenic mold called an aflatoxin.  The longer the peanuts sit (shipments) the more the mold tends to grow.  It is difficult to buy locally grown peanuts since most are grown in the Southern United States.  Unfortunately the liklihood of organically grown peanuts containing the mold is the same as that of the conventionally grown ones.

Many of us might be alright eliminating actual peanuts from our diets, but what about delicious peanut butter?  Ruth’s post on Sunbutter describes an awesome substitute that the Whole9 article describes as the closest thing to peanut butter in terms of taste and texture.  Other alternatives are tree nut butters like almond butter, cashew butter, macadamia nut butter, etc.  So those of you who still scarf down peanuts and peanut butter on a regular basis may want to think twice and begin exploring other tasty alternatives.

WOD 12.29.09

Make Up Day
or
“Nasty Girl-ish”
3 Rounds
7 BW Rows/Pendlay Rows
50 Squats
10 HPC