In daily life, people are accustomed to discarding the peels of fruits and vegetables, unaware that these peels and scraps are a "panacea" for preventing and treating diseases, offering excellent benefits for health and disease prevention.
Watermelon peel is used to relieve summer heat, quench thirst, and clear heat and toxins, and it is superior to the watermelon flesh. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, watermelon peel and juice are used to make "Xigua Cui Yi" (Watermelon Rind), which has effects of clearing heat and summer heat, purging fire and relieving vexation, and lowering blood pressure. It also shows certain therapeutic effects for anemia, dry throat, chapped lips, cystitis, ascites, and nephritis.
Winter melon peel has the effects of relieving summer heat, strengthening the spleen, and promoting urination to drain dampness. It can be used to treat edema, abdominal distension, and difficulty urinating caused by kidney, lung, or heart diseases. Boiling winter melon peel into a decoction to wash the feet can treat both athlete's foot and foot odor, killing two birds with one stone.
Cucumber peel. Some people peel cucumbers, which is a real pity. The green skin of the cucumber contains chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid, which can act as an antibacterial and anti-inflammatory agent and stimulate white blood cells to phagocytose. Eating cucumbers with their skin on is a good remedy for those who often suffer from a sore throat.
Banana peel. Banana peel contains effective ingredients that inhibit fungi and bacteria—bananin. It can be used to treat pruritus (itching) of the skin caused by fungal infections. Banana peel has the effects of moistening the lungs and intestines, activating blood circulation, and nourishing the essence. Mashing banana peel and adding ginger juice can reduce inflammation and relieve pain. Rubbing the hands and feet with banana peel can prevent and chilblains.
In addition, dried and powdered banana peel is also an excellent beauty product.
Apple peel has an astringent effect. Taking 30 grams of fresh apple peel to make a decoction or steep it as tea can treat excessive stomach acid and phlegm. Drying the apple peel, grinding it into a powder, and taking 15 grams on an empty stomach, 2-3 times a day, has certain therapeutic effects for chronic diarrhea, neurotic colitis, and hypertension.
Pear peel is cold in nature and sour in taste. It can cool the heart, moisten the lungs, eliminate fire, and resolve phlegm. Taking a decoction of 30 grams of pear peel has the effects of clearing the heart and moistening the lungs, stopping cough, and resolving phlegm, and can treat excessive phlegm and cough. Mashing the pear peel into a paste and applying it externally to the affected area can treat carbuncles and swelling. Drinking a decoction of fresh pear peel frequently can detoxify and reduce swelling.
Pomelo peel can regulate qi, transform phlegm, stop cough, and relieve asthma. Using one pomelo peel, remove the inner pulp, crush it, and steam it with an appropriate amount of honey and malt sugar. Add a small amount of hot yellow rice wine and take it orally, once in the morning and once at night, one spoonful each time, to treat cough and asthma in the elderly. Alternatively, taking a decoction of 9 grams of pomelo peel can transform phlegm, promote digestion, relieve asthma, and stop hernia pain.
Tangerine peel (Chen Pi) has the effects of regulating qi, transforming phlegm, strengthening the spleen, and removing dampness. It can also lower blood pressure. Tangerine peel can treat cough with excessive phlegm, chest tightness, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting. The flavonoid glycosides in tangerine peel can dilate the coronary arteries and increase coronary blood flow. Slicing the tangerine peel or drying and grinding it into a powder, then steeping it in boiling water as a tea substitute, has a pleasant fragrance and can whet the appetite, promote circulation, and refresh the mind. Soaking 50 grams of dried tangerine peel in 500 grams of white liquor for 7 days to make tangerine peel wine, and taking 5 grams each time, can treat chronic diarrhea.
According to Compendium of Materia Medica, the pomegranate fruit peel can be used as medicine, primarily to treat dysentery with red or white stools, and bleeding prolapse of the rectum.