Apple peels, orange peels, eggplant peels... In your daily life, do you easily discard these peels in the trash? In fact, fruit and vegetable peels are not only a barrier for the produce to resist external damage, but also a concentration of nutrients. Many peels also have disease-preventing and healing properties.
The following fruit and vegetable peels have particularly excellent health benefits, so don't throw them away.
Apple Peel — Anti-Aging
Apple peels are rich in pectin and dietary fiber, which can promote intestinal peristalsis. They are also rich in vitamin C, anthocyanins, and other polyphenols, which have strong antioxidant activity and can fight aging.
Dietary Advice: When eating an apple, it's best to wash it thoroughly and eat it with the peel.
Orange Peel — Regulating Qi and Resolving Phlegm
From the perspective of Chinese food therapy, orange peels can regulate qi, resolve phlegm, stop coughs, and calm asthma. They are also beneficial for those with arteriosclerosis or vitamin C deficiency.
Dietary Advice: You can dry orange peels and use them to make tea. You can also add them to dishes for a special flavor, like in congee. Adding a few pieces of orange peel to meat soup can make the soup taste fresher and reduce the greasy feeling.
Watermelon Peel — Clearing Heat and Relieving Summer Heat
Watermelon peel is rich in minerals and vitamins, just like the flesh. It has the effects of clearing heat, relieving summer heat, purging fire, and reducing irritability, as well as lowering blood pressure.
Dietary Advice: Remove the outer green layer of the watermelon peel and you can eat it cold, stir-fry it with meat, use it as a filling, or make soup with it.
Pear Peel — Clearing the Mind and Moistening the Lungs
Pear peel is a traditional Chinese medicine with high medicinal value. It contains a good amount of vitamin C and inorganic salts like iron and zinc, and can clear the mind, moisten the lungs, reduce fire, promote fluid production, and treat colds and coughs.
Dietary Advice: Wash and chop a pear with its peel, add rock sugar, and stew it in water to treat coughs.
Winter Melon Peel — Promoting Urination to Reduce Edema
Winter melon peel contains not only various vitamins and minerals but also many volatile components. It has the effects of relieving summer heat, strengthening the spleen, and promoting urination to reduce dampness.
Dietary Advice: Winter melon peel is thick and hard. It is recommended to cook it with the peel when making winter melon soup.
Tomato Peel — Preventing Cancer
The lycopene in tomato peels is one of the most powerful natural antioxidants discovered so far. It can prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases, boost the body's immunity, and prevent cancer.
Advice: Whether eating them raw or cooked, wash the tomatoes and eat them with the peel.
Kiwi Peel — Anti-Cancer
Kiwi peels are rich in antioxidants and have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic properties. The antioxidant content in the peel is three times that of the flesh. Additionally, kiwi peel can also combat staphylococcus and E. coli.
Dietary Advice: Juice the kiwi with the peel on, then filter and drink it.
Eggplant Peel — Strengthening Blood Vessels
Eggplant peel contains substances like vitamin P, B vitamins, and vitamin C. Most notably, it is excellent for strengthening blood vessels, making it a great dietary choice for people with cardiovascular issues.
Dietary Advice: When cooking eggplant, just cook it with the peel on.
Banana Peel — Protecting the Eyes
Banana peel extract is rich in serotonin, which can help alleviate depression. The lutein in banana peel can protect eye cells from UV damage.
Dietary Advice: Boil a banana peel in water for 10 minutes, let it cool, and then drink it.
Pineapple Peel — Protecting the Stomach
(After removing the prickly outer part) Besides being rich in dietary fiber and vitamin C, the bromelain in pineapple peel can break down food, clear dead tissue from the digestive tract, and has stomach-protecting and anti-cancer properties. Moreover, the bromelain content in pineapple peel is twice that of the flesh.
Dietary Advice: Peel the prickly outer part of the pineapple and juice it with the peel; or, cut off the peel, wash it, boil it in water until it loses its color, and drink the pineapple water.
Grape Peel — Lowering Blood Lipids
Grape peels contain more resveratrol than the flesh and seeds of grapes. It can lower blood lipids, prevent thrombosis, prevent arteriosclerosis, and boost immunity. Grape peels are also rich in dietary fiber, pectin, and iron.
Dietary Advice: It is recommended to wash grapes thoroughly and eat them with the peel.
Small Reminder:
1. When eating fruit and vegetable peels, it's best to choose organic produce. If that's not possible, green food certified options are also acceptable. If neither is available, just make sure they are fresh.
2. When washing, you can soak them in warm water for 1-2 minutes and scrub them with a soft brush. If necessary, you can also blanch them in hot water.
3. It is not recommended to use detergents to wash fruits and vegetables, as detergents are chemicals themselves and may cause secondary pollution.