Peel carrots?

[Datel]

Do roots/carrots have to/should be peeled or is it enough to wash them like other vegetables and fruits?

 

[Emma JC]

I personally don't peel any carrots or parsnips or potato - I scrub them and then cut of the top bottom and any areas that I don't like.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[silva]

Carrots should just be scrubbed with a brush, like other root veggies. I do look to buy organic, and in my area organic carrots are often same, or close to the same, price. The skin does provide additional nutrients and more fiber.

Should You Peel Your Fruits and Vegetables?

There's no doubt fruits and vegetables can benefit your health, but many wonder if it's best to eat them with or without the skin. Here's a look at whether you should peel fruits and veggies.

www.healthline.com

I was surprised to hear that cooking releases additional nutrients as I assumed raw carrots were always better-

Carrots and Nutrition: The Latest Research | NutritionFacts.org

Colorful foods are often healthier because of their antioxidant pigments, such as the beta-carotene that makes carrots orange. Learn more about the health benefits of carrots in our free, evidence-based videos.

nutritionfacts.org

You would really like the book "Whole" by Colin Campbell (also author of the China Study)

 

[Datel]

I personally don't peel any carrots or parsnips or potato - I scrub them and then cut of the top bottom and any areas that I don't like.

I actually didn't want to peel the carrots today, but after I washed them, they got a disgusting color (which also happens when the peel is removed), so I peeled them anyway.

Many thanks for the great links, very good information there.

I do look to buy organic, and in my area organic carrots are often same, or close to the same, price.

Maybe I should try that as well. But here vegetables and fruit are often 2 to 4 times as expensive, I think.

Although some pesticides enter fruit and vegetable flesh

Holy sh...I didn't even know that (thank godness). Maybe it would have been better to leave it at that.

I knew that eating the peel would provide more nutrients, but not that it would be that many.

For instance, the peels of avocados and honeydew melon are considered inedible, regardless of whether they are consumed cooked or raw.

Other fruit and vegetable peels, such as those from pineapples, melons, onions, and celeriac, can have a tough texture that is difficult to chew and digest. These peels are generally best removed and not eaten.

Furthermore, while some vegetable peels are considered edible, they are not very appetizing for most when raw. Examples are winter squash and pumpkin peels, which are best consumed after cooking to allow the peels to become soft.

Citrus fruits also have tough and bitter skins that can be difficult to consume raw. These are generally best consumed as a zest or cooked, or simply discarded.

So are nutrients in these peels at all?

Citrus fruits also have tough and bitter skins that can be difficult to consume raw.

So one really could consider eating the peel of a citrone? Or an orange?

For example, a recent review reports that around 41% of pesticide residues found on fruits was removed by washing with water, while up to twice as much was removed through peeling (22Trusted Source).

I do not understand this, twice as much? So up to 82 %? So there are up to 123 % pesticides in total? Where is my mistake in thinking? And so if you eat the fruit with the peel you eat up to 49 % of pesticides? Doesn't that sound like a lot? Or do I understand nothing? And how much pesticides remain in the pulp?

Nevertheless, the risk of consuming slightly more pesticides may not necessarily outweigh the benefit of the greater amount of nutrients in the skins.

Actually, that doesn't sound like "slightly" more at all (maybe because I get it wrong).

The amount of pesticides allowed on fresh foods is tightly regulated.

Farmers in many countries or many countries don't seem to care about this at all. Or rather, there are no such (tight) regulations in the first place.

Are Pesticides in Foods Harming Your Health?

Pesticides are used in farming to kill weeds and insects. This article explores whether the pesticide residues in foods are harmful to human health.

www.healthline.com

To sum up that, you can easily say (it couldn't be easier) that you simply don't know (and much more, of course) whether you should eat peeled fruits/vegetables or unpeeled ones, because you have no idea to what extent the chemicals remaining in a vegetable/fruit affect you (and how badly you needed the nutrients that you wouldn't eat if the peel were removed, because of course you don't know how vulnerable you would be to certain diseases that could perhaps have been prevented or alleviated by eating the peel) and how much one needs special nutrients. Some people are more or lesse susceptible for such kind of residues, others perhaps not. Some people puke when they get into an S-Class model, others don't.

I was surprised to hear that cooking releases additional nutrients as I assumed raw carrots were always better-

Incredibly, that was the only information I knew.

You would really like the book "Whole" by Colin Campbell (also author of the China Study)

Many thanks! Just downloaded it.

 

[Emma JC]

Citrus fruits also have tough and bitter skins that can be difficult to consume raw.

So one really could consider eating the peel of a citrone? Or an orange?

Yes, many people, including me, use the "zest" of the orange and the peel can also be found in some fruit cakes and some people also "candy" the peel - the pith is very good for you and so when I do peel an orange to eat I try to leave as much of the pith as possible (although it is an acquired taste as many people find it quite bitter). The pith and the peel have more nutrients than the rest of the orange.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Datel]

So one just could shredder an entire orange (if it had any pits or even with them) and a lemon and such kind of fruits in a mixer and drink it? Or is thre anything that is not edible? So in such a smoothie the taste of the peel / pith would only be slightably noticeable, I could imagine. Or the shreddered (into powder) entire peel could be added to everything possible.

The pith and the peel have more nutrients than the rest of the orange.

So it would be (more than) a pity to just throw it away.

I think such an orange peel cake would somehow scare me anyway. I can not imagine that.

 

[silva]

So one just could shredder an entire orange (if it had any pits or even with them) and a lemon and such kind of fruits in a mixer and drink it? Or is thre anything that is not edible? So in such a smoothie the taste of the peel / pith would only be slightably noticeable, I could imagine. Or the shreddered (into powder) entire peel could be added to everything possible.


So it would be (more than) a pity to just throw it away.

I think such an orange peel cake would somehow scare me anyway. I can not imagine that.

Dr Greger and others do advocate blending whole organic citrus. I tried this once and did not like it a bit, the pith is too bitter and ruined the lemon

 

[Datel]

Many thanks for the video!

I tried this once and did not like it a bit, the pith is too bitter and ruined the lemon

Maybe it tastes better, respectively good at all combined with other (sweet) fruits shredded together, e.g. an orange, banana. Or in a special combination with other food. Guess I'll just have to try this out.

 

[Emma JC]

I would never consider blending a whole citrus fruit. When I use peel it is only a small amount and normally is zested - if I do use a larger than zest amount it might be less than 5% of the whole orange or lemon.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Datel]

I would never consider blending a whole citrus fruit.

Why?

When I use peel it is only a small amount and normally is zested - if I do use a larger than zest amount it might be less than 5% of the whole orange or lemon.

Oops, OK, that really sounds like very little, not even a teaspoon full (or maybe a tablespoon), I assume, so I guess 5 % mixed with other ingredients one / I won't even taste.

 

[Emma JC]

Why?

because it would be too overwhelming - if I was starving I would eat the whole orange or lemon, I am sure, but eating more than a small amount can be hard to digest (tons of fibre) - think of marmalade, this had orange peel, and the amount you would put on toast is probably the perfect amount of peel to eat at a time - pestisides as has already been mentioned and taste, it would be challenging to eat so much and actually enjoy it

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Datel]

That means, this is probably something you eat purely for the nutrients, not the taste. Or if only in certain combinations and small quantities because of the taste.

OK, many thanks!

 

[silva]

because it would be too overwhelming - if I was starving I would eat the whole orange or lemon, I am sure, but eating more than a small amount can be hard to digest (tons of fibre) - think of marmalade, this had orange peel, and the amount you would put on toast is probably the perfect amount of peel to eat at a time - pestisides as has already been mentioned and taste, it would be challenging to eat so much and actually enjoy it

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

it's suggested to freeze in cubes to use as a ingredient, not eat the entire fruit, and only if organic
I don't know if it was the pith or the seeds but I couldn't use it all, very bitter

 

[Emma JC]

it's suggested to freeze in cubes to use as a ingredient, not eat the entire fruit, and only if organic
I don't know if it was the pith or the seeds but I couldn't use it all, very bitter

yes, what I do is zest into a small canning jar and keep it in the freezer so that it is available if I don't wish to do a fresh one - yesterday I zested a bit of lemon into the bottom of my noodley soup bowl and then used the juice from that half in the soup - the vitamin C (along with the dry mustard) helps to absorb the nutrients in the brussel sprouts and the kale

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com