Before eating certain foods, we usually remove the part with a coarse texture and poor taste before consuming it, such as the peel. In fact, the part we discard often has health benefits. Let's take a look at which fruit peels have medicinal properties.
Which fruit peels have medicinal properties?
1. Tangerine Peel
Washed and steamed with sugar to make a drink, tangerine peel can help regulate qi, clear the lungs, expel dampness, relieve coughs, and reduce phlegm. Additionally, tangerine peel contains alkaline properties; when used with a little salt, it can wipe away stains from ceramic, enamel, and aluminum or iron cookware and tableware in one go.
2. Tomato Peel
Tomato peel can prevent cancer. Lycopene is the most powerful natural antioxidant discovered to date, capable of preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases, boosting the body's immunity, and preventing cancer. It is most abundant in the tomato peel. Furthermore, tomato peel also helps maintain intestinal health.
3. Winter Melon Peel
Winter melon peel has the effects of relieving summer heat, strengthening the spleen, and promoting urination. It can be used for edema, abdominal bloating, and difficulty urinating caused by kidney, lung, or heart diseases. Decocting winter melon peel into a tea to wash the feet can treat athlete's foot and foot odor, killing two birds with one stone.
4. Cucumber Peel
Cucumber peel can help detoxify. It contains more cucurbitacin, the nutritional essence of the cucumber. Eating cucumbers with their peel allows for the full absorption of Vitamin C and helps the body effectively detoxify. In addition, cucumber peel also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects.
5. Pear Peel
Pear peel is a traditional Chinese medicine with high medicinal value. It can clear the mind and moisten the lungs, reduce fire, and promote the production of body fluids. Washing and chopping the pear peel, then stewing it with rock sugar to make a drink can treat coughs. Adding a bit of pear peel when making homemade pickles can make the pickles crispier and more delicious.
6. Apple Peel
Apple peel has an astringent effect. Decocting it into a soup or steeping it as tea can treat excessive stomach acid and phlegm. Drying it, grinding it into a powder, and taking it on an empty stomach (2-3 times a day) has a certain therapeutic effect on chronic diarrhea, neurotic colitis, and hypertension.
7. Eggplant Peel
Eggplant is an excellent food for cardiovascular patients, yet most of its nutrients are found in the peel. Peeling the eggplant not only reduces its health value but also causes the iron inside to oxidize upon contact with air, turning it black and affecting the body's absorption of iron.
8. Watermelon Peel
The effect of watermelon peel is superior to its flesh. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the peel is called "Xigua Cuiyi" (watermelon jade rind) and has the effects of clearing heat and relieving summer heat, purging fire and alleviating irritability, and lowering blood pressure. It also has certain therapeutic effects for anemia, dry throat, chapped lips, and patients with cystitis, ascites, and nephritis.
9. Banana Peel
Banana peel contains bananin, which can treat skin itching caused by fungal and bacterial infections. Banana peel also has the effects of quenching thirst, moistening the lungs and intestines, promoting blood circulation, and nourishing the marrow. Mashing the banana peel and adding ginger juice can reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
10. Pomelo Peel
Pomelo peel can regulate qi, transform phlegm, relieve coughs, and calm wheezing. Chopping one pomelo peel, steaming it until soft with an appropriate amount of honey or malt sugar, then adding a small amount of hot yellow rice wine, and taking one spoonful orally in the morning and evening can treat coughs and wheezing in the elderly. Decocting pomelo peel into a tea to drink can transform phlegm, aid digestion, calm wheezing, and relieve hernia pain.