A Nutrition Minute with Sharon Gruber: Vegetable Peels

by Sharon Gruber, Nutrition Consultant.

As food prices climb, everyone clearly wants to get the most for their money. This is one tip that could help our health while we're at it. We would all do our bodies a whole lot of good if we scrubbed many of our food's skins and peels really well and ate them, since they're often the source of the darkest color, which typically translates to the most nutrients. Plus, they often are loaded with fiber, which helps us feel full.

So what skins and peels should we actually be eating? Cucumber peels? Yes, eat them. The chlorophyll that makes them green also is great for fortifying the blood. Potato skins and sweet potato skins? Full of minerals. Much more so than the inside. Lemon and lime peels? Yep, even them. We all could be zesting them and using the zest in baking and cooking. It's loaded with a compound that supports the liver.

Every day, we should try to get a rainbow of colors into our bodies, for example: a red tomato, an orange carrot, a yellow beet, a bunch of dark green kale, and a handful of blueberries. Spring is here, summer on its way, and the fruits and vegetables are just beautiful. Enjoy getting the most bang for your buck in the produce aisle!