Little wonder the 15th century Portuguese traders carried peanuts on their ships as an essential food. Modern science has now demonstrated that peanuts are one of the most complete nutritional resources available.

So if you love to snack on peanuts, you can do it completely guilt-free! Here's a quick run-down on all the goodness that Mother Nature packs into every single one of our peanuts:

Nutrition Facts About Peanuts

High Protein Content - 27% Protein is vital for the growth, maintenance and repair of your body's tissues, and is one of the essential building blocks of all life. Peanuts beat the pants off most foods in general (and all other snack foods in particular) when it comes to protein content. In fact, they have such a high protein content they're widely used as an alternative to meat in many vegetarian recipes.   Cholesterol Free! High cholesterol levels are a major concern for many people. But happily, peanuts are 100% cholesterol-free!   This means you can eat them by the bagful without raising your cholesterol level one jot. Peanuts are also a great source of mono-saturated oils - which are are good oils for humans (see our page on Peanuts and Your Health for the latest research about this).   6.4% Dietary Fibre Dietary fibre is essential to the smooth functioning of your body's waste elimination process - and if you don't get enough fibre in your diet your body soon blocks up. Peanuts have 6.4% dietary fibre content so they're very good for your digestion and your bowels.     13 Vitamins and 26 Minerals Vitamins? Minerals? Peanuts are a veritable treasure trove of them! All our South Burnett peanuts contain 13 different vitamins (including A, the B group, C and E) along with 26 essential trace minerals, including calcium and iron. The only thing they don't contain is the high cadmium that's typically found in imported peanuts (which is definitely not good for you!)   Low Salt Content Many people are surprised to hear that peanuts have a very low salt content - usually only 1.4mg per 25 gm serve. Salted peanuts, naturally, have a higher content - but it's still only about 107mg per 25 gm serve. This is much lower than most common snack foods such as corn chips and potato chips. So if sodium is a concern in your diet, you'll generally find that you can safely consume peanuts without any ill effects.   Folate and Antioxidants Finally, peanuts possess a natural high folate content, along with vital antioxidants. Doctors and nutritionists now recognise that both of these make a vital contribution to human well-being and that antioxidants also tend to slow down the aging process. Many food manufacturers now put folate into their food products because of its beneficial health effects. But here at the Peanut Van, all the goodness is put in by Mother Nature herself