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Volume 18 Issue 1

Peanuts and peanut butter have long been favorite foods for many kids growing up, and new research is showing that young girls who consume peanut butter or peanuts at least twice a week

decreased their risk of breast disease later in life by up to 39%.1

The study looked at girls aged 9 to 15 who filled out dietary recalls; ten years later, researchers examined which participants had been diagnosed with benign breast disease (BBD) and compared this to their reported dietary intakes. It was found that peanut butter and nuts were more significant than any other food looked at in reducing the risk of BBD. In fact, peanut butter and nuts were so significant, they drove positive results for total vegetable protein intake and total vegetable fat intake, meaning there is something special about peanuts as a source of plant protein and healthy fats. Girls who had a family history of breast cancer had the strongest results, with benefits of peanut butter and peanut intake seen before and after the onset of menses.

Although peanuts are grouped in with all nuts in the study, it is likely peanuts were the driving factor due to the fact that the majority of nuts consumed in the U.S. are peanuts.2 In addition, previous research has shown that women who had at least one serving of peanuts per week decreased their risk of proliferative BBD (P-BBD), by one-third. Results were similar for all nuts, but other nuts required twice the serving amount to have the same effects as peanuts.3 P-BBD is the type of BBD most strongly associated with increased risk of breast cancer.

BBD has shown to be a strong risk factor for breast cancer, comparable to family history, and research continues to show that focusing on prevention at younger ages is critical for reduced risk of disease. Breast development at adolescent years and changes in hormonal environment make adolescence a critical time period for reducing risk of breast cancer with improved dietary choices, such as including peanut butter or peanuts twice a week.

Peanut Butter and PeanutsReduce the Risk of Breast Disease in Young Women

What is BBD?

Benign breast disease refers to noncancerous disorders that can affect the breast in ado-lescents. Although BBD is not cancer, research indicates BBD, particularly proliferative BBD (P-BBD), is a well-established risk factor as a marker of a proliferative state of the breast that is considered an early indi-cator that cancer may develop in the breast.4,5

“These findings suggest that peanut butter could help reduce the risk of breast cancer in women,” said Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, senior author and associate director for cancer prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

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Scientists and health professionals are moving away from looking at individual nutrients and instead

look at whole foods or overall dietary patterns in their relation to health and research continues to show that there is something special about peanuts. Peanuts and peanut butter are packed full of nutrition including many hard to get nutrients, plant-protein, healthy oils, fiber, and many bioactives; all of these components work together to create one special nut that can not only help manage

weight, but can significantly reduce the risk of disease in people of all ages.6-9

All you need to get these great benefits is a handful of peanuts or a spoonful of peanut butter once a day, and it shouldn’t be hard to get your daily dose when peanuts are the most affordable nut and a lifelong favorite food.

Peanut Protein

Peanuts contain more protein than any other nut6 and are one of the most commonly consumed plant-proteins in the U.S.2,4 Previous studies have shown that plant based diets are associated with decreased risk of disease includ-ing breast, colon, and prostate cancer.10 Newer research shows that cumulative vegetable protein intake, mainly due to peanut butter and peanuts, decreased the risk of BBD in 14-year-old girls.1 Researchers looked at many sources

of vegetable proteins including beans, lentils, and soy, and none were significant in reducing risk, except peanut butter and peanuts.

Healthy Oils

Peanuts and peanut butter are a good source of vegetable fats, contain high amounts of heart-healthy monounsatu-rated fats and are very low in saturated fats.6 Research shows that animal fat consumption is associated with a 33%

increased risk for P-BBD, whereas veg-etable fat consumption in young women accounted for a 27% reduced risk.11 More recent research indicates that vegetable fat may actually be protective. Cumulative vegetable fat intake, mainly due to peanut butter and peanuts, was shown to decrease the risk of BBD in 11-year old girls by up to 44%. 1

Cancer Fighting Compounds

Peanut butter and peanuts contain compounds called phytosterols.10 Phytosterols are similar in structure to cholesterol, but are not absorbed by the body, allowing them to block the absorp-tion of cholesterol from your diet. In addition to their heart health properties, emerging evidence is showing that they also decrease inflammation and reduce the growth of various cancers includ-ing prostate, colon, and breast cancer.10

Phytosterols protect against cancer several ways, including inhibiting cell division, stimulating tumor cell death and modifying some of the hormones that are essential to tumor growth.

Peanuts and peanut butter also contain resveratrol, a compound that has been associated with prolonged life and reduced risk of many diseases, including cancer.12

ofThe PoweR tHe PeAnUt PACkAGe

“Studies have indicated that phytosterols inhibit colon cancer cells, prostate cancer cells, and breast cancer cells. Peanut snacks and peanut butter, in addition to peanut oil, offer a unique tool to increase phytosterols in the American diet.” Atif Awad

Something Special About Peanuts

Peanuts and peanut butter are packed full of nutritional components that work together to help signifiicantly reduce the risk of disease in people of all ages.6-9

?Did you knowPeanuts are a good source of fiber and vitamin e, which have both shown to protect against breast cancer. In one study high fiber intake was associated with a 25% decreased risk of P-BBD, and vitamin e was shown to have significant protective effects.11

“…adolescents who ate peanuts had lower zBMIs, higher nutrient intakes, increased vegetable in-take, lower total cholesterol, and were less hungry throughout the day.12-14”

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PeAnUtS Are A GreAt AFter SCHOOl SnACk KIDS AnD ADoleScenTS

Studies from the Family Lifestyle and Overweight (FLOW) Prevention Program, conducted by Baylor College of Medicine and the United States Department

of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA/ARS) Children’s Nutrition Research Center in Houston, Texas, have shown that peanut butter and peanuts can improve weight maintenance, decrease cholesterol, and improve nutrient intake in kids and adolescents.13-16 FLOW is an in-school weight man-agement and prevention program focusing on behavioral and dietary changes in kids and adolescents. Adolescence rep-resents a critical time for health intervention and schools are in a unique position to educate students and promote healthy eating behaviors.

According to the CDC, 18.4% of adolescents are classified as obese.15 One of the biggest contributors to overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is increased snacking from high calorie, high carbohydrate, high sugar, and salty snacks. Alone, snacking accounts for almost 25% of daily calories for the average individual, with 40% of people reporting 3-4 snacks per day. In addition, increased snacking interferes with meal intake, specifically breakfast and lunch among children.16-18

In the FLOW studies, children often skipped school meals, only eating the low nutrient, high calorie, afternoon snacks

often provided at the school. Researchers offered peanuts and peanut butter as a healthy alternative and kids were not only receptive to the change, but adolescents who ate peanuts had lower zBMIs, higher nutrient intakes, increased vegetable in-take, lower total cholesterol, and were less hungry throughout the day.13-14 Peanuts also

had an effect on long-term weight maintenance. Kids who ate peanuts as an after school snack not only lost more weight than kids who did not, but also maintained weight loss for up to two years later.13

Peanut Butter: The Perfect Veggie Dip.

Pairing vegetables with a tasty dip is a common practice among caretakers to get kids to eat more vegetables, but the quality of the dip can play a major role in improving overall nutrient intake. Research shows that kids who dip their vegetables in peanut butter actually consume more veg-etables and increased the variety of vegetables eaten.11 This was seen even in “vegetable resistant” children. In addition, a new study shows that salad dressings were not associated with decreased risk of BBD, whereas peanut butter was.1 Pairing vegetables with a nutrient-rich dip like peanut butter instead of salad dressing is an effective, simple strategy for children and adolescents that helps build positive eating habits, increases vegetable intake, and may contribute to healthier lifestyles and chronic disease reduction.

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References

KID-FRIenDly PeAnUt BUtter & BAnAnA rOll UPS

Ingredients

• 1 banana, peeled• 2 Tbs peanut butter• 1 whole wheat tortilla

Preparation

1. Place tortilla on a flat surface and spread2 tbsp of peanut butter to evenly coat.

2. Place the banana near the edge of thetortilla and roll it up.

3. Slice into 1/2 inch rounds and serve.

*Try adding other fruits or jam for a variety of

flavors. Recipe and photo adapted from weelicious.com

1. Colditz, et al. Vegetable protein and vegetable fat intakes in pre-adolescent and adolescent girls, and risk for benign breast disease in young women. Breast Cancer Research andTreatment. 2013; 141(2):299-306.

2. erS-USDA. Food Consumption and Demand: Food Consumption. 2012. Available: www.ers.usda.gov/data/foodconsumption

3. Su X, tamimi rM, Collins lC, Baer HJ, Choe, Sampson l et al. Intake of fiber and nuts during adolescence and incidence of prolif-erative benign breast disease. 2010 CancerCauses Control 21:1033–1046.

4. neinstein lS. Breast disease in adolescents and young women. Pediatr Clin North Am.1999;46:607–629.

5. Frazier, rosenberg. Preadolescent and Ado-lescent risk Factors for Benign Breast Disease. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2013;52:S36-S40.

6. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural research Service. 2009, USDA national nutri-ent Database for Standard reference, release 25. nutrient Data laboratory Home Page, http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl.

7. Sabaté J, Ang Y. nuts and health outcomes: new epidemiologic evidence. Am J Clin Nutr.2009;89(5):1643S-1648S.

8. González CA, and Jordi Salas-Salvadó. the potential of nuts in the prevention of cancer. British Journal of Nutrition. 2006;96:S87-S94.

9. Mattes rD, kris-etherton PM, Foster GD. Im-pact of peanuts and tree nuts on body weight and healthy weight loss in adults. J Nutr.2008 Sep;138(9):1741S-1745S.

10. Awad. Peanuts as a Source of Beta-Sitosterol, a Sterol With Anticancer Properties. Nutritionand Cancer. 2000;36(2), 238–241.

11. Baer HJ, Schnitt SJ, Connolly Jl, et al. Adoles-cent diet and incidence of proliferative benign breast disease. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark-ers Prev. 2003;12:1159-67.

12. Sanders, tH, et al. Occurrence of resveratrol in edible peanuts. J Agricult Food Chem.2000;48:1243-1246.

13. Johnston, et al. increasing Vegetable intake in Mexican-american Youth: a randomized Con-trolled trial. J Am Diet Assoc. 2011;111:716-720.

14. Johnston, et al. Weight loss in overweight Mexican American children: a randomized, controlled trial. Pediatrics. 2007;120(6):e1450-7.

15. Johnston, et al. effects of a school-based weight maintenance program for Mexican-American children: results at 2 years. Obesity.2009;18(3):542-7.

16. Johnston, et al. Peanut consumption in ado-lescents is associated with improved weight status. Nutrition Research. 2013;33(7):552-556.

17. Fryar, et al. Prevalence of Obesity Among Children and Adolescents: United States, trends 1963-1965 through 2009-2010. CDC, nCHS Health e-Stat. 2012. Available: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_child_09_10/obesity_child_09_10.htm

18. Moshfegh, A. the Snack Generation: Diets of Children today. USDA-ArS WWeIA. U.S. De-partment of Agriculture, Agricultural research Service, Beltsville Human nutrition research Center, Food Surveys research Group (Belts-ville, MD) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, national Center for Health Statistics (Hyattsville, MD). What We eat in America, nHAneS 2001-2004 (Unpublished data presented at the Peanut Institute educa-tional tour, 2009). From: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=15044.

19. Piernas C, Popkin BM. trends in snacking among U.S. children. Health AFF (Millwood).2010 Mar-Apr;29(3):398-404.

20. nFCS 1977-78; WWeIA, nHAneS 2005-06; WWeIA, 2009-10 WWeIA, nHAneS; 1 day; 9-12 year olds.

The Peanut Institute is a non-profit organization that supports nutritionresearch and develops educational programs to encourage healthy lifestyles.