The study compared the effects of four diets in hamsters that contained similar amounts of fat, carbohydrates and protein. In three of the diets, peanuts, peanut oil or fat-free peanut flour were substituted for equivalent caloric amounts of food. The fourth diet served as a control. Compared to the control group, all three of the peanut diets significantly lowered total cholesterol and bad LDL cholesterol. In addition, the good HDL cholesterol remained steady, which has the positive effect of removing bad cholesterol from the blood.
"We now have shown that there are components beyond the healthy fat in peanuts that are having strong health benefits. The protein and other functional components in peanuts, which are in the peanut flour, also improve heart disease risk factors," said Sanders.