What was once America's most popular and favorite nut has fallen out of favor for fancier and more exotic options. Now if you ask people their opinion of them, they may tell you it's a "lowbrow" nut or an allergen nightmare. This perceptions are inaccurate and unfair. The truth is peanuts are a relatively nutritious nut.For example, the amount of antioxidants in peanuts is over 50% higher than cashews. Are peanut allergies common? Well that depends on your definition, because cashews and other tree nuts are a fairly comparable percentage, according to a study published by the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology in 2010. What percentage of the population has a real peanut allergy? Only 1.4% in the U.S. and 0.93% in Canada. What percentage of the population has a tree nut allergy? 1.1% in the U.S. and 1.14% in Canada. With such comparable numbers of roughly 1 in a 100 people, it's not fair to demonize peanuts while ignoring other common nut allergens like cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, and coconuts (yes, coconuts are actually a tree nut).Are peanuts less healthy than other nuts? A study published in 2015 by JAMA Internal Medicine found that peanuts have the same nutritional benefits as many of the more expensive nuts. Since the study evaluated data for more than 200,000 people from across the globe, you can't say they're cherry picking or claim the sample set was too small. With 7 grams of protein per 1 ounce serving, this is a nutritious nut with benefits you shouldn't ignore.
ORAC Source
USDA Database for the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods, Release 2 - Prepared by Nutrient Data Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center (BHNRC), Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - May 2010