Eating Peanuts May Help Ward Off Diabetes
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: For years, many people have been avoiding nuts and peanut butter because of the fat content. But now, there is word that including both in your diet could help ward off one type of diabetes. Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is sitting in for Dr. Sanjay Gupta this morning. She joins us live from Atlanta with details. So peanuts, the miracle drug?</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I wouldn't call it a miracle drug, but it might actually show some promise in warding off Type II diabetes. That is the type you get as an adult. In a study of women, what they found is that the women who had peanut butter five days a week or nuts, any kind of nuts, had a 20 percent less risk -- lower risk of getting Type II diabetes. How much did they have to eat? Let's take a look. We brought some samples here. They had a tablespoon a day, five days a week. That is about a tablespoon right there, or they had a handful of nuts. That is about a handful, any kind of nuts. But that is all, that is all they had to eat in order to get that effect. Now, why would nuts or peanut butter have that effect? Well, they think it's because there is fiber and magnesium, which seems to balance out the glucose and the insulin levels -- Carol.</s>COSTELLO: You're kidding -- so that is all it takes? It just sounds so unbelievable to me that you could do all sorts of bad things to your diet and then, like, take a handful of peanuts everyday, and it will be fine.</s>COHEN: Well, you identify a very good point, Carol, which is that you need to reduce the calories in other ways. Nuts and peanut butter have quite a bit of calories, so you can't add this like icing to the cake. You have to take out some of the other calories, because if you eat too much, you are going to get too heavy, which will put you at a greater risk of diabetes. I also want to add, this is just one study. It was a huge study of tens of thousands of women, but it is not the final word. They may not be right. It is important to note also the kind of fat that is in here, and there is a lot of it, but it's -- quote-unquote -- the "good" fat, the kind lowers your bad cholesterol, and raises your good cholesterol. So it is a fat, but a good fat.</s>COSTELLO: Yes. So bring on the peanuts. Thank you very much, Elizabeth Cohen, we appreciate it.</s>COHEN: Thanks, Carol. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com