Is it bad to eat peanut shells, or are they a good source of fiber and nutrients ?

I sometimes get cajun boiled peanuts from one of the local stands or the quickiemart and everyone always asks me what I'm doing with my shells. I chew them up and eat them.
I started doing this because when I was a teenager I would get peanuts and never have anything to toss the shells in, so I just started chewing them up and swallowing them since they're part of the plant anyway.

I would think that since farmers used to (still do?) plant peanuts to revitalize their soil this would mean the majority of the peanut including the shell would be rich in good stuff.

In case anyone's wondering, yes, they breakdown well before they come out...

I have always believed that the outer layers of fruits and vegetables are the parts that always contained the most nutrients. I went and looked some info up on peanut shells and I found the same is true with peanuts! Apparently the shells contain a lot of antioxidant properties.

While looking up information about the peanut shells, I found some other interesting information about peanuts. I always thought peanuts were nuts, but I guess not!

I never realized that.
Pea pods, pea nuts, makes sense I guess.