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There are several factors going on here. The first one is the source of the story is below. Think they might be a bit biased?
However, they didn't actually fund the study, they were just using it to sell their products.
What about the actual study?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1756464623003468
"Earlier results from the ARISTOTLE trial showed that participants who consumed peanuts and peanut butter experienced an improvement in memory and stress response, largely due to polyphenols in peanuts.
The new findings confirm the ability of the gut microbiota to potentially produce compounds from peanut polyphenols that can improve brain response. The study showed that MPMs were associated with an improvement in memory and reduced stress."
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They don't tell you that there are 100+ other food items with MORE polyphenols than peanuts. Wonder why
https://www.nutritionadvance.com/nutrition/top-food-sources-polyphenols/
So people reading this article that get convinced to eat (more) peanuts to boost their healthy polyphenol consumption, could be consuming 100+ other products with even MORE polyphenols, some with MUCH more, (like cocoa, which is #4 on the top 100 list) than peanuts. But yes, you can also get them from peanuts.
Peanuts also have protein and have some healthy fats (not saturated).
However, there's some more potentially problematic issues with peanuts.
I don't agree with some of this below but it's a point to consider.
Do Not Eat Peanut Butter Again, Until You Watch This!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSPWFz6Dn44
Most people don't realize that peanuts are actually NOT a nut. They are a legume and grown in the ground like beans.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/legume-of-the-month-peanuts
Though high in calories/fat they do have protein and the fat is not saturated fat. They have lots of fiber. Peanut butter as a healthy food, however is really stretching it.
The biggest deal for peanuts is the massive increase in sometimes fatal peanut allergies in children the past 2+ decades.
I note a ton of kids with severe nut allergies at the schools that I go to based on their tables in the cafeteria that are "nut/peanut free" tables. The reaction to just a small amount, even from another kid eating a peanut butter sandwich next to them, can cause anaphylactic shock!
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An allergy to peanuts is among the most common food allergies found in children in the United States. Many schools have declared that they are “nut-free,” meaning that the onetime staple of kids’ lunchboxes - a peanut butter and jelly sandwich - is nowhere to be found on school grounds these days.
https://acaai.org/allergies/allergic-conditions/food/peanut/
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63788730
https://www.slhd.nsw.gov.au/rpa/allergy/resources/allergy/peanutallergy.pdf
https://www.ajmc.com/view/the-economic-impact-of-peanut-allergies
Here's a source with a positive take on peanuts:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4711439/
Brands, Jif is #1!
https://www.statista.com/statistics/281227/us-households-brands-of-peanut-butter-consumed/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/192046/production-of-peanuts-for-nuts-in-the-us-since-2000/
My Grandson has peanut allergy. His mother always has an EpiPen nearby.
He had an attack for just being in my truck that had an empty peanut bag on the floor. Fortunately, some Benadryl was enough to get him better. But that shows just how easy it can cause symptoms.
Thanks, cutwom.
No peanut allergies in our family, fortunately. Unless you work with children or have one that is allergic, most people don't realize the (potential) impact.
I go to 5 schools each week as a volunteer chess coach. At 2 of the elementary schools, we have practices in the cafeteria. Over a decade ago, I thought it was odd to find several "nut free" designated tables with signs on the tables.
Initially, without much information I assumed it was just being fanatical.
With hundreds of kids in the program each year and discussions with parents, there were several conversations which included making me aware that their child needs to sit at a table that is nut free for chess for the reason that you stated. Some kids are apparently so super sensitive that a bit of residue from a peanut butter sandwich left behind can cause them to go into anaphylactic shock! WOW!
This is something that has quadrupled in the last 25 years or so. There has to be a reason! I wonder what it is?
https://www.webmd.com/allergies/anaphylactic-shock-facts
Here's a personal story about the 1 time I had anaphylactic shock.
One late evening, 15 years ago I was on the computer and getting extremely sleepy, about to go to bed and suddenly noticed an odd feeling in my lips and tongue.
I looked in the mirror and it was also impacting my eyes. Suddenly, I wasn't sleepy anymore because the symptoms were coming on real fast and causing me to be alert from needing to observe what the heck was happening.
Within 20 minutes or so the symptoms became severe. Fat lips and tongue and eyes getting close to being swollen shut. At that point, most smart people with good judgment would have driven to the emergency room because there didn't appear to be an end point to the rapidly progressing event.
Instead, I became convinced that this was some sort of unknown allergic reaction(I used the Rug Doctor that day but had used it a dozen times before with no issues) and decided to make the diagnosis and prescribe the treatment myself.
This had to be some sort of extreme allergic reaction from my body creating excessive histamines.
We had a full bottle of liquid, grape flavored Benadryl left from when our kids were younger. I decided to drink half the bottle to give my body a MASSIVE dose of anti histamine. That must have been like 15 doses. A few minutes later, I drank another quarter of the bottle, another 5 doses just because there was still some progression and the first dose hadn't had time to stop it.
Then, I waited. My eyes were almost completely swollen shut, lips were 5 times their normal size and tongue was swollen.
During this time, my wife had been in bed for 2 hours and part of the reason to not go to the emergency was to avoid waking and scaring the crap out of her because it would be a good idea for her to drive with my condition so unstable. She had work early that next morning.
Now it was time to wait and see if the treatment worked. This had never happened before and it was REALLY severe, so I fully appreciated the fact that if it didn't work, I might die.
I decided to give the Benadryl enough time to kick in and if the condition still kept getting worse, THEN I would go to the emergency room.
Anybody that has taken a full dose of Benadryl, knows that it makes you drowsy/sleepy. Imagine the impact of 20 doses.
As I constantly monitored the scary symptoms in a state that would have left most people NOT sleepy for going to bed, the Benadryl kicking in over powered that and made me extraordinarily sleepy. After 20? minutes or so I became convinced that things were no longer worse. I gave it, maybe 10 more minutes to be fairly certain and was extremely groggy, ready for sleep.
When I went to bed, I seriously was thinking "Am I going to wake up in the morning?"
Around 5 hours later, I woke up and celebrated. "I'm alive! Yippee!"
The swelling was around half the peak by that time and my wife was up too. I looked in the mirror and my appearance was like a monster. Impossible to tell who I was.
My wife was getting ready in the bathroom and before I went in I said: "I'm completely ok now. There's nothing to worry about, so don't be alarmed when you see my face"
She screamed when I came in and I repeated over and over that I'm getting much better and there's nothing to be alarmed about.
I was tested for allergies and the only one that showed up was to white birch trees.
The allergist said that people have events like this and sometimes they never figure out what triggered it. He said the Benadryl likely saved my life. They prescribed an EpiPen.
I retested again, a decade later using my arms and back to test for over 100 items. Same thing. Allergic to white birch, nothing else.
Never had another event.
Moral of the story?
1. Anaphylactic shock can happen to anybody and very suddenly without any previous warning signs of an allergy or reaction similar to it.
2. If you don't have an EpiPen, don't be stupid by self diagnosing and treating with your life at stake. That was BAD judgment. The consequences of being wrong might be death!