Question:
Should groundnuts be eaten boiled, roasted or raw?
Answer:
Groundnut is considered to be a healthy food and it is used as a healthy snack the world over. Groundnut was first cultivated in South America; from there it spread to other parts of the world. Groundnut belongs to pea and bean family and it is a legume. The other names for groundnuts are peanuts, pindas, jack nuts, pinders, manila nuts, monkey nuts etc.
Groundnuts have a high nutritional value. It is a rich source of energy, high in protein content, vitamins such as A, E, B complex and vitamin C are found abundantly in groundnut.
Groundnut is rich in protein content; it contains more protein than meat, eggs and any other vegetables products except soyabean and yeast. Roasting the groundnut is better as the mineral contents and the essential vitamins are preserved. Digestion of the peanut is better if it is chewed properly and made into paste. Eating fresh roasted groundnuts are valuable if they are mixed with jaggery and milk. This combination is useful in growing children, pregnant women, and lactating mother.
Uses of groundnut in some illness:
- Excessive bleeding: It is useful in bleeding disorders, in epistaxis that is bleeding from nose, and in women with excessive menstruation.
- Diabetes: Eating a handful of groundnuts helps to prevent malnutrition and checks arterial and venous occlusion.
- Chronic diarrhea: Nicotinic acid deficiency can cause chronic diarrhea, since groundnut is a rich source of nicotinic acid it can be consumed with goats milk.
- Chewing fresh groundnut helps to restore the strength to the gums and the teeth.
- Groundnut oil if applied daily on the face, keeps the face fresh and free from acne.
Asthmatic person should avoid raw or roasted groundnut as it is known to trigger an asthmatic episode. Excessive use of groundnuts can produce stomach upset, hyperacidity, and indigestion in a few individual.
To eat groundnut in raw, boiled, or roasted form depends on a person’s choice but like other food articles, food values are most preserved in raw and roasted form.