Peanut Butter Causes Cancer?
November 4th, 2007 by Paul JohnsonBodybuilders are suggested to eat a high amount of good fats in their diet for hormonal and joint health, and for a good source of calories. Peanut butter is a very common source of fat for most bodybuilders in their diet. Most eat natural peanut butter because it doesn’t contain hydrogenated fats. Peanut butter is considered a good source of fat because it is low in saturated fat and high in monosaturated. The truth is, peanut butter is really not that healthy long term.
Why peanut butter can cause cancer:
Unfortunately a mold commonly winds up growing on peanut butter. This fungus Aspergillus flavus releases a cancer causing metabolic product (mycotoxin) called aflatoxin B1, which is a officially recognized carcinogen (cancer causing compound). Workers around peanuts even have to wear protection because of the health hazard. It is common knowledge that farmers and animals around peanuts have increased liver cancer.
How much of this fungus and to what degree it converts to the mcycotoxin aflatoxin seems to depend on where the peanuts are grown and how they are stored and for how long. Peanuts have less of this problem if they are farmed in dry climates, as the fungus seems to thrive in humidity. Other foods have this fungus growing on it such as walnuts and grains, but peanut butter and corn seem to be the worst afflicted foods. The risk of peanut butter giving liver cancer is a bit exaggerated by some. But most bodybuilders consume it everday, often in high amounts, which could be a problem.
Alternatives to peanut butter:
Almond butter is the best food alternative for peanut butter. Flaxseed oil would even be better, but it’s not a substitute in food as a butter. Almond butter actually has higher omega 3’s than peanut butter anyways and isn’t contaminated with this fungus. Almond butter is not as tasty as peanut butter, but at least you know you won’t be posioning your body. If you decide to use peanut butter, see if you can get peanuts grown in dry areas, to help reduce or eliminate fungus contamination.
This all really goes back to the ‘everything in moderation’ theory. Anytime you over-emphasize any one food or food source the risk can end up outweighing the benefit. For example, the whole soy craze then scare. It has a lot of benefits but consuming it several times a day for an extended period of time carries it’s own risks as well. Certain fuel ratios are, of course, critical in whatever your health goal is, but it is not beneficial to eat any one food excessively in the same way it is not generally beneficial to cut out particular foods completely.
The mold in peanuts has long been known to be the root cause of peanut allergies so it goes to follow that inundating your body with peanut butter may not be the best idea even if you don’t have an obvious intolerance to it.
Thanks for your response sharleen. You are right that its all about moderation. Bodybuilders often consume tons of protein cause its calorie dense and it is a good source of healthy fats.
thanks for the great information…
Is there any indication that populations consuming roasted (as opposed to raw) peanuts have increased cancer risk? One would think that roasting and processing peanuts at high enough temperature would kill much of the mold. Note that peanuts also naturally contain resveratrol, a known anticarcinogenic compound. Ultimately, I would like to see any evidence that peanut butter causes cancer in humans before taking it too seriously, but I do acknowledge that the possibility should not be dismissed outright.
Whether or not it kills the mold, it doesn’t change the fact that the carcinogen left by the mold is still there.
Truth is the government tests for this mold an the average jar of peanut butter has 14 parts per billion 1000 times less than what is considered harmfull. So eat all the peanut butter you want and dont listen to the witch doctors who tell you otherwise.
I always eat peanut butter is really true cant cause cancer to the liver?
Another good substitute for peanut butter is sunflower seed butter, which is not as expensive as almond butter, and which can easily be made into sunflower seed butter sauce (like peanut sauce) or just eaten on sandwiches etc.
The origin for peanut butter causing cancer goes back to the Ames Test of Mutagenicity in which it was discovered that natural products had higher mutagenicity rates than synthetic chemicals (herbicides, etc).
The mutagenicity rate refers to the rate at which compounds cause mutations to form.
Hence high mutagenic levels means higher chances of causing a mutation in our DNA and can consequently cause cancer.
As said before, one must consume products in moderation.