Eating healthy takes a little bit of extra work. This
may entail you making your every meal and
following all cooking procedures spelt out by food
manufacturers.
When it comes to fruits and vegetables however, a lot
of us believe we are taking in a lot of nutrients just by
eating them. A lot of the nutrients of a number of
fruits and vegetables are contained in the edible skin
that covers them.
The sometimes very colourful skin peels that cover
some fruits and vegetables alike usually contain a very
high amount of concentrate minerals, antioxidants and
vitamins. Although, this doesn’t mean that all of the
nutrients in fruits are located in their skin as food
experts have pointed to the fact that when a tomato is
peeled, most of the beneficial lycopene still remains.
Some fruits however have some unique nutrients in
their skin which is usually independent of the fruit or
vegetable itself.
Check out the six fruits and vegetables with some
amazing skin attributes.
Garden Egg
Also known as Eggplant, the skin of the garden egg has
high levels of the antioxidant nasunin in its skin. Not
much research has been done on this compound but a
research published in the U.S. National Library of
Medicine and National Institutes of Health suggests that
it could play a significant role in the maintenance of
healthy brain tissues. More so, nasunin belongs to a
family of antioxidants known as flavonoids which
when consumed in high quantities can help to stop you
from adding weight over time.
Carrots
Carrots contain a high level of polyacetylenes. They are
thought to have antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-
inflammatory effects. This chemical is also of
significant interest as researchers are actively studying
its ability to kill human cancer cells. Polyacetylenes are
mostly concentrated below the skin of carrots so it’s
best you scrub off only a thin peel of the skin or you
leave them on as you eat. More so, some species of
carrots have more benefits than others. Purple carrots
have been known to have high levels of anthocyanins,
an antioxidant compound which gives them their
exceptional colour.
Apples
Peeling off the skin of an apple fruit will not reduce
the amount of vitamin C available to you but you will
lose out on another important nutrient – pectin. Pectin
helps to slow digestion, which reduces your cravings for
snacks to a minimum. Pectin is also a soluble fiber
which plays a significant role in regulating and
lowering low density lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol
and blood sugar.
Potatoes
The skin of potatoes have some of the highest levels of
iron, fiber and folate in comparison with potato flesh.
Pigmented purple potatoes even have more beneficial
uses than regular ones especially it’s skin. Researchers
at the University of Maine estimate that the skin of
these potatoes may contain as much as 10 times the
antioxidants present in the flesh.
Grapes
Grapes require a lot of pesticides during their growth
process if they are to survive but that is not to say you
should completely peel off the skin. The skins of red
grapes contain resveratrol, a phytochemical which is
highly beneficial to the brain and heart. Research also
shows that it can slow down the growth of cancer in
cellular and animal studies.
Cucumbers
When a cucumber is peeled, minerals and vitamins
including magnesium, phosphorous, calcium,
potassium, vitamin A, and vitamin K consumed from
the fruit are lower as opposed to when the full,
unpeeled fruit is eaten. Moreover, almost all of the
fiber from the cucumber fruit comes from the skin as
most of the insides of the fruit is water.
Stay Healthy.
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