John Myers
You should keep this in mind when peeling fruit and vegetables
The fact that conventionally grown fruit and vegetables are sometimes heavily contaminated with chemicals is no longer a secret. For this reason, many consumers try to protect themselves from harmful pesticides by peeling fruit and vegetables.
- However, the peeling of the food should be viewed critically. Valuable secondary plant substances, minerals, trace elements, dietary fiber, and vitamins are also lost when the peel is removed from fruit and vegetables. As a rule, there are many, sometimes even almost all, healthy nutrients directly on or under the skin.
- Basically, the more intense the color of the skin, the more nutrients it contains. The cucumber, for example, is peeled in most households. Almost all nutrients such as vitamin K and valuable antioxidants are found directly on the shell. The rest of the cucumber is mostly water.
- Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly under running water. You should also clean it with a vegetable brush. You cannot remove all pollutants with this, but up to 70 percent is quite realistic.
- In the case of organic food, the regulations regarding the use of pesticides are much stricter. However, even organic foods are by no means 100 percent free of harmful substances.
- With some foods, opinions differ widely as to whether peeling makes sense or not. The potato is one of them, for example, because the toxin solanine is also on the skin. If you like eating potatoes in aluminum foil or potatoes in their skins, it is better to use new potatoes.
- Tip: If you prefer to peel your fruit or vegetables, use a vegetable peeler so that you can save at least some of the nutrients.
