Does not look like it has many phyto-estrogens to me. A little, but not nothing like soy products.
[quote]icecold wrote:
Does not look like it has many phyto-estrogens to me. A little, but not nothing like soy products.
http://www.herbalchem.net/Introductory.htm[/quote]
I agree. A little won’t do anything and aren’t enough to leach onto tissue.
J-Girl, the mold/fungi that you’re asking about is Aspergillus flavus (aka a. flavus). It grows almost everywhere. Outbreaks occur when certain crops, such as peanuts, corn and tree nuts, are stressed by droughts. Aflatoxin (which is a mycotoxin or a fungal toxin) is a naturally occurring toxic metabolite of that fungi, and it is, unfortunately, a potent human carcinogen, causing liver cancer.
While you can sometimes kill the Aspergillus by cooking it, the aflatoxin it created will be left behind. Even though the Federal Government limits the amount of aflatoxin in peanuts to 20 parts per billion (the equivalent of a drop of water in a 21,700-gallon swimming pool) the peanut industry has adopted an even more stringent limit - 15 parts per billion.
In countries that don’t test for aflatoxin (China and sub-Saharan Africa), there are are at least 250,000 deaths annually from Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). Aflatoxin is one of the major etiological factors in HCC.
Re organic peanut butter being worse than non-organic peanut butter, I’m not sure I agree, but let me explain why. “Organic” just means that it is grown without the use of pesticides. Whether it is organically grown or not, if peanuts sit around at room temperature for weeks or months, mold (a. flavus) can grow. So there is the POTENTIAL that grind-it-yourself peanut butter could have more mold and/or aflatoxin. And see that’s the thing. Even though the USDA and FDA have rules for how much aflatoxin is allowed in food before it’s shipped to stores, there’s no measure of it after it reaches the stores.
There are those who believe that your safest source of peanut butter is commercially manufactured, store-bought peanut butter. The companies that make those generally get the peanuts fresh, roast and grind them immediately, put them through an effective cooking and homogenization process, then seal them in airtight jars. The mold buildup on those will be much lower than your typical “fresh” or “natural” peanut butters.
As a general rule, no matter what kind of peanut butter you buy, it’s a good idea to refrigerate your peanut butter after opening it. This slows down the mold buildup and reduces the amount of aflatoxin produced over time. Of course, it’s not as easy to spread onto your bread that way. But it does reduce the cancer risk.
Hope I haven’t scared everyone off of using peanut butter. (grin)
Sorry ladies and gents, but Organic Raw Almond butter rules.
Thank you, Terry, for that awesome explanation! Personally, I love me some Teddie Old Fashioned peanut butter. Like I said, I thought I remembered something, but I must have been mistaken (not the first time :P)
I think I’ll be sure to stay away from store ground pb after reading that. Thanks again!