Fruits and Vegetables You Shouldn't Peel
Potato Although you might be more interested in what’s inside the potato, its skin and sweet potato skins alike have fiber and tons of nutrients, like vitamins B and C, potassium, calcium, selenium and iron. While you may want to peel potatoes to smooth out their texture for stews or mashed potatoes, leaving the skin on can be a boon. Just rinse them and scrub them with a kitchen towel or vegetable brush before you start cooking. When you do peel potatoes, save the skins and fry them in oil. It makes a tasty snack!
Carrots When it comes to cleaning these orange root veggies, you only need running water and a quick scrub. Most of the vitamin C and vitamin B3 found in carrots is actually concentrated in the skin and the layer just below the skin (called the phloem), so leaving the skin on ensures that you get the maximum amount of these healthy vitamins. If you're planning to roast them, however, pull out your peeler — the skin can turn a little bitter in the oven.
Peach The fuzzy skin on peaches is packed with antioxidants and vitamins. Not only that, it has lots of dietary fiber, too. Peach skin has loads of vitamin A. There are also carotenoids -- a kind of antioxidant and provitamin -- in peach skin. These could help lessen your chances of cataracts. You’ll be getting a good amount of fiber too, which helps your body digest food.
Eggplant If it's an extra-large eggplant, the vegetable could be older and the skin tougher, therefore, it's a smart idea to peel it. But small, young eggplant have thin, tender skins that add great texture to the vegetable when cooked (eggplant is rarely eaten raw). An eggplant’s skin has lots of antioxidants. This is especially true for eggplant varieties that are darker in color. For example, purple eggplant varieties will have more nutrients in their skin than the white varieties. What's more, because of the water content of this vegetable, the vast majority of its nutrients, like fiber, manganese, and immune-boosting antioxidants lie in the skin. Just rinse the eggplant and wipe it with a paper towel to clean it.
Watermelon Watermelon rinds have an amino acid called citrulline. It can help get rid of nitrogen in your blood and can also help ease pain if you have sore muscles. In fact, the rind has more citrulline than the juicy flesh. If you’re not keen on eating the rind raw, there are other ways to prepare and eat it. You can pickle it, juice it, or stir fry it like a vegetable.
Apple If there’s one fruit you should eat with skin on, it’s an apple. Apple peels contain about half of the fruit’s fiber content! If you peel it, you also lose about the third of the apple’s vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium content. Not only that, but you get four times more vitamin K from the apple peel than you would the actual fruit. Fiber is helpful for stopping cholesterol buildup in your blood vessels. There’s also an antioxidant called quercetin that can help your brain and lungs work better.
Cucumber Cucumbers have an incredibly high water content, meaning you'll find most of the healthy stuff in its dark green outer skin. It has lots of potassium, antioxidants, and fiber. The skin is also rich in vitamin K (good for bone health)and vitamin A (benefiting your eyes and skin). Some types of cucumbers have tough, waxy outside layers, so if you're planning to skip peeling, be sure to rinse then vigorously scrub them before eating.
Kiwi You eat the fuzzy skin of a peach, but did you know you can eat the fuzzy skin of a kiwi, too? Eating kiwi skin will triple the amount of fiber you get from the little fruit. you’ll get antioxidants, flavonoids (plant chemicals), fiber, vitamin E, folate, and vitamin C. Expect it to taste just like the flesh, but a little less sweet and more tart.
Guava If you ever walked past a guava and just wanted to take a bite into the whole fruit, then we’re here to tell you – you can! Guavas are deliciously fruity, with the taste being somewhere between strawberries and pears. The fruits are high in antioxidants, vitamins, fiber, and minerals, and by eating the skin, you get every ounce of nutrients!
Zucchini & Yellow Squash The peels of zucchini and its yellow counterpart, summer squash, can taste a little bitter, but they’re extremely nutritious. Once again, the nutrientss mainly lie in the skin thanks to their high water content. You’ll get both soluble and insoluble fiber, potassium, and some extra vitamin C. The skin of a zucchini also has loads of antioxidants, like lutein, carotenoids, and zeaxanthin. You can reap the benefits of this veggie skin by combining them with other flavors, like in a salad, or by cooking them. A rinse and a rub with a paper towel are sufficient to clean zucchini and summer squash before preparing.
Banana While technically safe to eat, bananas have a peel that’s tough to eat and tastes bitter and folks tend to disagree when it comes to eating. Still, the peel has some great health benefits. It has potassium and antioxidants, like lutein. Lutein is good for eye health. Banana peels also have something called tryptophan, an amino acid. Since the skin is tough and bitter, you can boil it for a few minutes, then bake in the oven to dry it out for a tea or a smoothie.
Orange Orange peels have an incredible amount of vitamin C -- twice the amount that’s inside the fruit. They’re also packed with vitamin B6, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and riboflavin (a B vitamin). Orange peels are hard to digest and they can be bitter. So, use a grater to make orange zest. You can zest in salad dressings or sprinkle it directly on top of a salad. The flavor of the zest also goes well with chocolate and ice cream.
Peels You Should Not Eat
Mangoes You can technically eat mango skins, but they contain a small amount of urushiol, the active chemical in poison ivy. So, toss the mango peel to be safe, especially if you know you're sensitive to poison ivy.
