 What happens if you eat peanuts every day for 30 days? Well, one thing is for sure. You'd be doing your health a huge disservice. Sorry, peanut and peanut butter lovers, but this nut can actually take years off your life. Shocking? Well, if you've been told your entire life that peanuts are a healthy choice, you're not alone. There's a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to food and your health. So today I'm going to set the record straight on this dangerous nut starting with some myth busting. First of all, peanuts are not a nut. They are a bean, a legume. They have nothing in common with nuts. So let's start there. We should call it a peen bean. It's kind of cute. Myth number one, peanuts support energy due to being a rich source of protein and fiber which assist in the conversion of carbohydrates into energy. What a joke! Where do they make this stuff up? Peanuts are beans. They're not nuts. And as you know, legumes including peanuts are lectin bombs. As I've written about in my previous books, 95% of human beings have a preformed antibody to the peanut lectin. You are born hating the peanut lectin. Now, you've all heard of peanut allergies. This is actually not an allergy. It's not an IgE. It's an IgA and IgG modified antibody. And so you're born with that. Now, why do most people not feel that when they eat peanuts? Well, luckily for most people, the effect of eating the peanuts is not felt. Although you don't have to be a hermit to know that in recent years, peanut allergies and anaphylactic shock from eating peanuts has gone through the roof. In fact, as you may know, lots of little kids are carrying epi-pens of adrenaline to school in the case that some little kid brings a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school. The reason that's happened is most of us now have leaky gut. Most kids have leaky gut. And so our immune systems have been activated to be on the watch for the peanut lectin. But here's the problem with peanuts. Peanuts are an incredibly rich source of omega-6 fats, particularly nasty omega-6 fat, which is called linoleic acid. That omega-6 fat, get ready for this. There are 5,000 times more omega-6 fats in peanuts than omega-3 fats. The good omega-3. 5,000 times more omega-6 fats. And if you listen to one of my other podcasts, you know that these omega-6 fats actually cause aldehyde formation, which is one of the main drivers of inflammation and mitochondrial aging. And that's the last thing that you want from a food. 94% of people carry this antibody. So that's why number one, peanuts are not a great way to support your energy. Myth number two, peanuts support weight loss because they're satiating. Well, why they may be satiating, they certainly will not support a healthy weight, especially in the long run, because these compounds cause inflammation, cause leaky gut. And one of the best ways to make people gain weight is to cause leaky gut. And I've written an entire book, The Energy Paradox, about how leaky gut contributes to weight gain, not weight loss. We store fat in our gut as a fuel supply for our immune system, attacking the things that come across our gut like the peanut lectin. Now, here's one of my favorites, peanuts support heart health. Sorry, as a cardiologist who has performed over 10,000 heart surgeries, this one is a no-go. Believe it or not, if you want to produce atherosclerosis, heart disease, and monkeys, you feed them peanut oil. If you remove the peanut lectin from peanut oil and give it to the monkeys, they don't develop heart disease. And yet, peanut oil has the peanut lectin. So if you want to produce heart disease in monkeys who don't get heart disease, give them peanut oil. And you'll get heart disease. Need I say anything more? Now you're going, but wait a minute. The peanut skin in Spanish peanuts has resveratrol. Isn't that good for heart health? Well, that's like saying that water is good for you, but a tsunami must be the best there can be. The problem is the resveratrol content is in the peel of peanuts, and only Spanish peanuts, by the way. And it's so minimal that you'd have to eat pounds and pounds and pounds of peanuts to get the resveratrol content in one glass of wine. And all those pounds of peanuts would give you all those omega-6 fats, none of the omega-3 fats, and give you a walloping dose of the peanut lectin, which will be guaranteed to cause coronary artery disease. That doesn't sound like a very good idea. Now talk about wrecking your heart health. We've actually done studies of rats who were fed bowel movements from peanut-eating humans. Now before you stop and say, ooh, rats love to eat poop. They just think poop is delicious. So feeding rats poop from peanut-eating humans actually caused damage to the rat gut and to the rats themselves, just from the poop of peanut-eating humans. And when you gave them poop from humans who didn't eat peanuts, you didn't see the same thing. So to answer your question, if you ate peanuts for 30 days, you're going to virtually guarantee some very serious health issues. The good news is that there are plenty of delicious, healthy alternatives to peanuts. So what should you eat instead of peanuts? Well, as you know, my number one go-to nut is a pistachio. Pistachios have the highest source of melatonin known to mankind. They are very rich in melatonin. And you go, well, wait a minute, I don't want to go to sleep. Melatonin is the sleep hormone. But if you've read my most recent book, Unlocking the Keto Code, there are only two antioxidants that are present in mitochondria. One is melatonin. The other is glutathione. And so melatonin is really good for your mitochondria. And so pistachios are a great source of melatonin. How about macadamia nuts? One of the great things about macadamia nuts is they not only have almost no omega-6 fat, they're loaded with monounsaturated fat, oleic acid, which is the same fat in olive oil, but they're also loaded with omega-7, which may be one of the best promoters of heart health there is. So grab some macadamia nuts. Now, just be careful. If I want my patients to actively gain weight, if they're getting too skinny, I have them eat cups and cups of macadamia nuts. So just because I say macadamia nuts are great for you doesn't mean that you want to have five cups a day. How about peely nuts? Peely nuts are one of the healthiest nuts in the world. As a matter of fact, check out episode 232 with Jason Thomas, the Peely Hunter, on my YouTube channel or wherever you get my podcast. Another great option. I have a nut mix that I give to all of my patients in my office, which include macadamia nuts, walnuts, and pistachios. And every one of them actually has to have a little cup while seeing me. That combination is great for munching on. It's also great to take to parties. I use it if I know I'm going to a party where I'm going to be tempted. I just have a handful of gundry nut mix before I go. I'm satiated. I don't need to go picking up things I shouldn't be picking up. So it's a great alternative. Everybody says, yes, but my kids need peanut butter. Well, there are a lot of better alternatives. Although very expensive, pistachio and peely nut butter are great. If you're going to get almond butter, please, please, please find peeled almond butter. It exists. There's several companies that make it. But the peel and almonds have a really nasty lectin that I really think you need to avoid. Hazelnut butter is another great option, and it's becoming more and more available. Although not from a nut, but from a seed, tahini from sesame seeds is great too. If you're looking for kind of the same mouthfeel as peanut butter. Okay, if you want to ruin your health, go on the Peanut 30 Day Challenge and watch what happens. I'll see it in your blood work. I think you're going to love this next one. Look no further than pistachios. Not only are they delicious, but they are also one of the healthiest nuts on the planet.