Keep Your Pees On!
“The fibre adds bulk to the food in our digestive tract and helps regularize bowel movements, while also binding to toxins and flushing them out”
When was the last time you ate an orange peel? Never? Right, makes sense. The peel is just the throwaway container that the fruit comes ‘ in, isn’t it? Well, turns out that the peels . of a number of fruits are actually very good for us! You’ve probably guessed that the peels of fruits contain the most fibre, but fruits like oranges, bananas, guavas, and even watermelons also have the highest concentration of their minerals and other nutrients in the peel itself. The fibre adds bulk to the food in our digestive tract and helps regularize bowel movements, while also binding to toxins and flushing them out.
Use The Peels As Zest
The peels of these fruits also tend to be lower in sugar, fats and calories. This means, gram for gram, the peel far outstrips the pulp of these fruits in how beneficial they are. That said, you won’t enjoy chewing down on an orange peel – it’s fairly bitter. So, instead try using it as zest, by grating it finely over a salad. This works just as well with a lemon. Both peels contain nearly double the amount of vitamin C, as the fleshy parts of their fruit, along with higher levels of magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6 and riboflavin.
Powder The Peels
The pomegranate has been hailed as a superfood, but few know about the myriad uses of its peel. Sun-dried pomegranate peels can be blended to make a powder that’s omnipotent. This powder, mixed with yoghurt, acts as a moisturiser. A pomegranate peel powder paste (with milk) can be used as a face mask to prevent wrinkles. Drinking a glass of water with this powder mixed in everyday can be very good for your heart as well.
Consider Sauteing The Skin
Similarly, the flamboyant pineapple too has a wondrous skin, found to contain high levels of bromelain, an enzyme that’s been shown to have excellent anti-inflammatory properties. Consider sautéing the skin, or better still, juicing the whole fruit, skin and all, in a blender.
Dry The Peels
Finally, the humble banana – the peel is tough in its natural form, but an over-ripened banana has a softer skin that’s easy to chew. You could also fry the peel, or bake it and then use the dried peel to make a tea. Why put yourself through this? Well, other than the higher levels of potassium and fibre, banana peels are also known to contain lutein, which promotes eye function, and tryptophan, which is a mood-regulator. So now you know. Its happy days for your composter now, as you undoubtedly make short work of all your fruit peels yourself.