Some time ago my hubby and I made a small shift in our cooking habits. We discovered that peels of veggies contain a lot of antioxidants and nice nutrients that don’t deserve to be thrown away. Well to be accurate, we discovered that peels sometimes contain even more healthful elements than the vegetable itself. For example peels of sweet potatoes contain 10 times more antioxidants than it’s flash!
Well I noticed before that some dudes never peel ginger, carrots, potatoes (at The Happy Pear channel for example). I thought it’s weird. However, when I learned this fact about sweet potatoes, I reconsidered my scepticism.
Why plants need antioxidants?
Antioxidants for a plant are actually a natural protection against insects. That is why, the more insect-attacks green-stuff experience, the more antioxidants it contains. And most of them usually concentrate in the shell of the veggie/fruit. Thus, organic vegetables are richer in antioxidants.
But before you get frustrated (for most of us it is very difficult to find fresh organic veggies for an adequate price). Think about it this way. The difference in amounts of antioxidants between organic and non-organic plants is much smaller than between non-organic plants and animal-products! So, grab these veggies with no doubt! You can increase your antioxidants intake by consuming (at least some of) vegetables unpeeled.
Pesticides
Now it is reasanoble to ask about pesticides – after all, just settle on the surface of the veggies. As I understood, depending on the type of plant, more or less chemicals will settle on it. In general, they can be washed off with water, but the problem is that the surface of plant is always different. For example, strawberries have a lot of bumps and hollows on the surface, so more pesticides will settle in all these cracks, and it’s almost impossible to wash them with water (that’s why it is advised to buy only organic strawberries). But other vegetables, on the contrary, repel pesticides from themselves. For example, broccoli – any durt or liquid will be resisted, like water off a duck’s back! It seems that you don’t need to wash it either; the water on its surface does not even touch. Sweet potato is also easy to wash, a tail can be cut out from apples, where harmful substances can accumulate …. so, as you can see my attitude to pesticides is quite calm.
So now, if I see that the skin of carrot or beetroot looks not too bad – I don’t peel it. I just wash it thoroughly. Side effect – It makes the cooking process even easier! And I never peel sweet potatoes ever since. Thera was even a study, that have shown: the best way to cook sweet potatoes is boiling (even more antioxidants remain then by steaming).
As usual, thanks nutritionfacts.org for providing food for thought.
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