Simple way to increase nutrition from fruit

[Andre]

Most people would likely know this, but for people like me, who don't catch on that fast ;), this might come in handy.

I was about to peel some lemons to make lemonade in the blender and I thought that I might peel them with a potato peeler instead of my hand. After peeling I noticed that there was so much more pith left on it. Only a very small amount of the outside peel was discarded.

This also works these fruits:

Mango
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Orange
Papaya
Clementine
Minneola
Mandarin
Orange
Tangarine
Tangelo
Lemon
Lime
Grapefruit
Pummelo


So now I'm drinking my lemonade and it has a very smooth full-bodied taste to it. Basically it tastes much more complete with the extra fiber coming from the pith.

Just thought I'd share. :)

[HolyGuacamole]

Hey, that is a good idea!
Thanks!

[Ilse W.]

Lemon can actually be juiced with the peel on. The best juice I've ever had was apple with unpeeled lemon. You can only do it with lemons, though, all other citrus fruit has a poisonous substance in the peel.

[cara4art]

There's a whole lot of beneficial stuff in the piths and peels of citrus fruit! Actually, I just did this with a green smoothie that I'm slurping on right now, with half an unpeeled lemon, a Fuji apple, 2 T. soaked chia seeds in their water, and a big old handful(2-3 cups worth)of my pre-chopped parsley-spinach mix. This is awesome and so simple, with a nice tart, full-bodied flavor, and low-sugar too.
Here's another tip about pineapple - I save the cores, chop them up and freeze the chunks to have in smoothies, again, awesome and fiber-full!
Raw is awesome for stuff that is so yummy, that cleans you out at the same time!

[oai]

my mom trashes cores of pineapples! yesterday, i was going "mom. noooooo!" haha. :p i could have juiced them. next time, i will chop up pineapples in secrecy. ;)

great tip, andre. would this work on conventional fruits? i'll usually peel them to lessen the chemical load on them. i'd assume for organic, i could just throw a whole fruit, with peel & all, into a juicer or blender.

[annavon]

Lemon can actually be juiced with the peel on. The best juice I've ever had was apple with unpeeled lemon. You can only do it with lemons, though, all other citrus fruit has a poisonous substance in the peel.

I thought you can eat orange peels too. My family has an old recipe for raw cranberry sauce made with grinding the cranberries with unpeeled oranges. This recipe goes back a couple of generations or so. Also many recipes call for orange zest which is bacially the peel.

[rawviveyourself]

I love whole lemons, but I do take some of the outer peel off. And if you don't peel it has to be organic, or you are eating the chems and waxes.

Zested orange is OK because it is a small amount, but whole orange peels in raw form and larger quantities are not good for you. (It is the component called limonene, I think, that is not good if ingested in large amounts) Orange peels are, however, great for potpourri, cleaning liquids, and garden pest removal!

If you use whole lemons, you want to drink it right away, because if left to sit for a long period of time, it will get bitter.

Potato peelers are good for squashes and pumpkins, too!

[Veganforlife]

Lemon can actually be juiced with the peel on. The best juice I've ever had was apple with unpeeled lemon. You can only do it with lemons, though, all other citrus fruit has a poisonous substance in the peel.

BUT be sure when eating peels that you are consuming organic...