Ever since I was a child, when I would get a bag of peanuts I would always munch on a few with the shell included. There’s just something about the saltiness combined with that texture that I found tasty. I still do this to this day and my friends and family not only find this disgusting and odd but they tell my that it’s horrible for my intestines. I disagree with them but none of us have any facts to back up our positions.
I have to mention that I don’t eat peanuts that often, and when I do it’s just maybe five or six shells that I ingest. Is this really bad for me? I’ve never become ill from this so what’s the harm?
Here in the South, we have these things called “boiled peanuts”. While I am not the sort to enjoy them (I have a very slight allergy), they are considered a practical delicacy in my region. Some people eat them with the shells, and some people eat without them. Wars have been fought over the proper way to crunch on a boiled peanut.
However, I’ve heard of no cases of acute hospitalization from instestinal blockage by peanut shells, and I have several family members and friends who work in local hospitals.
Of course, this doens’t prove that they aren’t harmful… as I said, just an anecdote.
I always figured, like eating the stems of spinach leaves and whatnot, (which I also enjoy) that I’m just increasing my fiber intake. Nothing wrong with that I would think. I’m starting to wonder if my great grandmother was a giraffe.
You’ll be regular, but I can’t imagine that it’d cause you all that much harm. As long as you aren’t swallowing them whole, or in huge chunks. Once wet, the shells get pretty soft.
I’ll take just the insides though, but that’s the Yankee in me talking.
I could swear that I’ve read several times in the past that peanut shells are safe to eat (I do it all the time), but I can’t find a more conclusive cite than this one, in which Betsy from Virginia Carolina Peanut Promotions says a “food scientist friend” assured her that the shells are okay.
