Doctors only make money when you are sick. Did you know that if you stop wasting the best part of your health food you can avoid patronizing the doctor?
Read the warnings about agricultural poisons at the end of this article, but here are the views of several experts.
The skin and pulp of many fruits usually contain more nutrients than the fruit itself. As most nutrients are in the skin of a fruit or vegetable. Peeling fruits and vegetables is a waste.
Apples
Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content.
Blueberries
The blue in blueberries comes from the anthocyanin pigment. In the North American blueberry, the pigment is only found in the skin.
Bran
Bran is removed from the outside of grains and then sold back to us for the fibre.
Burdock
This is a carrot-like vegetable that hasn't been destroyed yet by breeders.
Since many nutrients are in the skin, don't peel before using. You can use in broths or in stir-fries. Burdock has also traditionally been used as a health-supportive herb.
Carrot
Don't peel them if you want to maintain their spectacular color; and many nutritionists claim much nutrition is contained in the skin.
Fruit And Vegetable Juices
Commercial juices have the best parts removed, then are pasteurized or cooked, and preservatives and sugar added. However if you make your own, there is nothing to prevent you stirring the pulp back into the juice. Juicing has the advantage of breaking open plant cells so as to make the nutrients available, as long as you don't throw away the best part.
Although much of the calcium in the orange is lost during juicing, you can buy calcium-fortifed orange juice. OJ is also rich in phytonutrients. Depending upon how much pulp they leave in, it can even contain some fiber.
Grapes
Eating grapes, drinking dark grape juice that is made with skins, or eating raisins may be just as heart-healthy as drinking wine, without the health hazards of alcohol.
Jerusalem Artichokes (Sunchokes)
Sunchokes contain the prebiotic, inulin, which provides food for the good intestinal bacteria. Look for clean, firm tubers with unblemished skin, which may be glossy and tan or a matte brown. They should not show a greenish tinge or any sign of sprouting or mold. Scrub instead of peel to retain the most nutrients in the fragile skin.
Lemons
The yellow part of the skin (zest) of lemons has most of the limonoids in the fruit.
Nectarines
Much of the fiber in fruit is in the skin of nectarines. To get the full benefit of fiber, wash the fruit well and then eat the whole fruit - with the skin.
Oranges
As with grapefruit, the white membrane under the skin of the orange contains more vitamin C than the flesh and a lot of the pectin fiber. The part of an orange or lemon that has the highest concentration of the very valuable nutrients, citrus bioflavinoids, is the pulp in the skin which is usually discarded.
Also, the highest concentration of flavour is in the outermost, colour layer of the skin.
Peach
Much of the full, deep flavor and nutrients in peaches are found in the skin.
Pears
Most of the vitamin C in pears is concentrated in the skin. A medium sized pear provides 4 grams of fiber, half of which is pectin (a carbohydrate found in the skin and seeds). Pectin has been found to reduce cholesterol levels, which in turn may reduce the risk of heart disease.
Plums
Plums have only moderate amounts of soluble gums and pectins in the flesh, as well as small amounts of cellulose and the non-carbohydrate food fiber lignin in the skin.
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Most of the Lycopene is in the skin, and cooking them releases it. Here is one case where a juicer is helpful because it breaks open the plant cells releasing the lycopene. Blend the juice and the pulp with some coconut oil for best results.
Rice
Brown rice takes longer to cook than polished white rice, but most of the goodness is in the brown stuff that is removed.
Wheat
There are 3 parts to the wheat grain. Starch, germ, and bran. The food processors remove the last two and sell them back to you as bran and wheat germ, because these are the only good parts of wheat. Starch just makes you fat.
Taste of Skins
Some of these skins have a strong flavour which you may find unpleasant. The answer is to blend with something more pleasant. Orange zest for example tastes great if you blend it with the rest of the orange. Dried fruit are excellent to change the flavour. Peanut paste can hide even the taste of medicine, but make sure that you are not allergic to it.
Warning
Non-organically grown apples and soft fruits are heavily sprayed so there is a real chance of low level poisoning.
Apple cores concentrate agricultural poisons so don't use them if not organically (without agricultural chemicals) grown.
If you can't buy organic produce you can buy special surfactants intended for washing your fruit and vegetables. Most of the chemicals don't wash off in plain hot water.
