Wash Your Produce, Don't Peel It!

Are you peeling your produce for fear of residues and dirt? Well find out here why you might be missing out on key nutrients and what you should be washing with...

Part of what makes an apple, or pear the ultimate healthy snack is the ease in which you can eat it – it’s portable and nutritious. The only thing that stops us from digging in is giving it a good scrub. Some of us take is a step further and peel the skins of our fruits and veggies, including apples. We do this for a variety of reasons - maybe it’s the texture or the taste – but simply speaking you're not getting all that the produce has to offer by peeling it first. Here are some very powerful reasons to never remove the peel or skin again.

The skin is where many of the nutrients are found. Take apples for example, The skin packs most of the fiber; a medium apple with the skin contains 4.4. grams of fiber versus half that without the skin. Phytonutrients are found in the skin! Apple skin contains quercetin, a potent antioxidant flavanol that is known to help with seasonal allergies, lung function and much more. If you don’t’ eat the skin, you won’t receive the benefit.

Here’s another interesting benefit, an unpeeled apple helps keeps spare pounds at bay. The peel contains ursolic acid, an important compound in the obesity-fighting ability of apples. Ursolic acid seems to increase muscle and brown fat, which in turn increases metabolism. 

Potatoes are also a great example; the skin contains double the fiber than the flesh and a whopping 60-70 percent of vitamin C, B6, and thiamin.  Even more, the skin contains 88 percent of the iron contained in the potato. 

So what about not being able to wash off the some of the pesticides, waxes and other residues? Well, look for a citrus-based produce spray. EAT CLEANER is a great example and features a natural blend of plant-based ingredients, such as: Citric acid, which naturally occurs in most fruit and vegetables, along with Sodium Citrate, a Citric Acid salt, Calcium Ascorbate, an antioxidant that helps prolong shelf life, Sea Salt, a natural preservative and anti-bacterial, and more.  EAT CLEANER safely lifts wax, pesticide residue and dirt that can carry bacteria from commercially and organically grown produce that water can’t. Veggie Wash is another great example.

Some of these washes can help inhibit food browning while prolonging the shelf life of fresh produce too!  So grab yourself a citrus based veggie wash, get cleaning and eating the most nutritious parts of your produce today!