Don’t Throw Out Your Lemon Peel!
The health benefits of lemons and lemon juice are pretty well known. But if you’re like the majority of people, you are probably squeezing out the lemon juice and tossing the left over lemon peel in the trash! I use to do that too!
But wait, wait, wait, that lemon peel contains even more nutrients, vitamins, and health benefits than the lemon juice.
Nutrients and Health Benefits in Lemon Peels
Lemon peels contain about 5 to 10 times more vitamins than lemon juice! Yep, that’s what you’ve been wasting!
Lemon peels are also an excellent source of fiber, potassium, magnesium, calcium, folate, and beta carotene.
Lemon peels improve bone health too! Since lemon peels contain high amounts of calcium and vitamin C, lemon peels have been shown to aid preventing osteoporosis, inflammatory polyarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Don’t forget all the fiber you will get from lemon peels! 3.5 oz of lemon peels contains 10.6 grams of fiber.
Lemon Peels Reduce Oxidative Stress
We all want to reduce our levels of oxidative stress! Lemon peels contain citrus bioflavonoids which are very powerful at reducing your levels of oxidative stress . Lemon peels also aid in eradicating toxic elements in the body and removing carcinogenic elements.
Lemon Peels Help Fight Cancer
Lemons have been used to prevent and treat cancer. Lemons are anti-microbrial and ward off against bacterial infections and fungi.
When lemon peels are consumed, they have been shown to prevent various types of cancers, including skin cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer.
A study found that the consumption of lemon peels in tea was beneficial in preventing the development of cancer cells.
Lemons are also very alkalizing! Cancer thrives in an acidic body, by making your body alkaline this will prevent cancer. Take advantage of the whole lemon and don’t just juice and toss!
Lemon peels contain salvestrol Q40 and limonene, which have been shown to prevent and treat cancer. These components fight against present cancerous cells in the body.
How to Eat a Lemon Peel
There are a couple different ways you can prepare your lemon peels.
- Place your lemons in the freezer for a couple of hours. Then take them out and grate them. You can sprinkle the grated lemon peel on your meals or in your drinks.
- Grind your lemon peel (without freezing). Sprinkle the lemon peel pieces on your meals or in your drinks.
- Or you could just bite right into one.
Grated lemon peels make a great addition to salads and teas! They add amazing flavor to any meal!
Do you usually throw out the lemon peel?
Sources: http://www.naturalnews.com/033649_citrus_bioflavonoids_oxidative_stress.html
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Hey hey–great post.
I shared it on my FB page, and one my readers asks, “What about toxins…? If they’re not organic?”
The easiest answer would be, “Get organic,” but if they aren’t available, is it worth it, with conventional lemons?
Hi Vanessa! Thanks for stopping by! That’s a great question and a tough one, I would definitely say if at all possible use organic! Data has shown that the pesticide load tends to be more concentrated on the flesh of the fruit. However, luckily, lemons aren’t considered to have the highest pesticide load/be in the “dirty dozen”. If you’re going to use non-organic lemons make sure to wash them well and use a natural bristle brush to lightly scrub the surface, to help remove pesticide residue. I would still use a non-organic lemon peel if there were no other options, but would focus more on juicing it.
What is the dirty dozen
The dirty dozen is a list of 12 foods that have the highest levels of pesticides.
hi, i take dried lemons and powder them. i always have it ready .
yeah i also use it in my bone broths.
That’s a great idea to add it to bone broth! I’ll have to try that, it must add great flavor.
Hi! Does it make your bone broth bitter using the lemon peels in it?
Lan, if it makes anything bitter, add a drop of honey.. Honey scores high in nutrients it’s antibacterral.. I love the idea of drying ‘everything’ especially for teas and soups.. (Try tangerine in place of orange..) I’ve always dried peels for teas but never tried them powdered..
I use an onyx morter and pestle to powder my herbs.. I do so much now that I need something bigger.. I’ve already gone from a 4 in tall x3in opening to 4 1/2 inch high with a 3 1/2 inch opening.. Does anyone have suggestions for what I can to go to next.?
Hi Lan, it hasn’t made my bone broth bitter, whenever I add it to broth or to a cup of tea, it adds a great flavor and I like the taste even better.
I just eat sliced lemons, peel and all! : )
I also like the pickled whole lemons sold by Ziyad. They’re yummy!
Good to know all this stuff is good for me, too.
Just remember to thoroughly clean the peel with vinegar before consuming. Lemons are sprayed with pesticides and coated to prevent spoiling.
Thanks for the good tips Brittany! To avoid the pesticides buy organic if possible.
Do you have more sources than just the one? In that, he mentions that once they are peeled, they immediately start to lose their anti-oxidant properties. I was thinking of drying, powdering and capsuling them, but maybe pickled rinds are the way to go. Or maybe neither of those methods would retain the nutrients.
I’d also love to see links to studies for all those claims (I’ve found the one for the tea). Please!
I blend a whole meyer lemon in the Vitamix with a quart of water and 2 TBSP of olive oil every morning. It’s a great liver cleanser and really tasty!
That’s a fantastic liver cleanser! I use to do that every night, will have to start doing it again!
I have used strips of lemon, orange and tangerine peel in teas and other drinks.. Grated, minced peel can be used for yummy deserts.. I sprinkle different herbs on most of what I eat.. You can chop them fresh or sprinkle them dry from a shaker..
Lovely reminder. I love lemons and am absolutely a fan of getting everything you can out of every ingredient. Reading the post made me crave some lemon water. Think my body’s trying to tell me something?
Thanks for sharing!
I so agree with you on everything you wrote! We use Lemon essential oil from Young Living. We LOVE the taste of it in water or in cooking. Plus it’s great at boosting mood, cleaning and detoxifying your body/leveling out your pH as well. It removes petrochemicals from your body too. If you put a drop in plastic you will see that it literally eats away at the plastic or styrofoam…and that’s what it does inside our bodies. Amazing stuff!
That’s awesome! Aren’t lemons great?! So many health benefits!
I love lemon water but have been throwing away after getting the juice out. Can you grate the lemon and freeze it for later use? If so, what is the best way to freeze?
I use to do that too! I would have a glass of lemon water every morning and not realize the amazing benefits in the peels I was throwing out. You can grate them and use them right away, or you could freeze the lemon and just take it out and grate as much as you need and put the lemon back in the freezer when done.
You can grow a dwarf lemon tree in a large pot on your patio if you don’t have room in your yard or no yard at all! They look and smell wonderful, are super easy, and produce so much fruit that you will be giving some away. Use soap or oil sprays if you get any pests (rare), then you will know there are no chemicals on your peel. You will have to bring inside for frosts however, but they will thrive in a sunny window. Besides fresh I use dehydrated slices (circles) and either throw in soups whole or pulverized, and also enjoy salting whole Moroccan style- YUM!
Is freezing the grated peel the only way to store it? If I grated a bunch at a time and kept it in the fridge in a mason jar (for daily use), how long before it expires? Thanks!
Hi Colleen, you can store them in your fridge, I usually keep mine for a few days. For the grated lemon, it is best to use it fresh, but should be good for a few days, not over a week though.
Wonderful! Thank you! =)
Buy organic for this purpose, regular ones are loaded with pesticides.
I used to throw them away but read an article on making lemon extract. Does extracting them pull all of the benefits or should I find a way to consume the solids? Great post, btw!
Thanks Jim! I have also read great health benefits of using lemon extract, especially in the area of cancer prevention. What are you using to extract, vinegar?
No, actually I am just experimenting and this is my first run at it. I began extracting vanilla from beans a while ago and instead of using vodka, like just about everyone suggests, I used my home made brew. I freeze distill apple jack from apple wine I ferment from apples from my trees.
The vanilla extract is awesome! So, I decided to try and do the same with lemon peels.
Awesome idea!
Can you tell me how to dry them please?
I think they may have been referring to dehydrating them?
Yummy!
You can also throw them in a Shaker Lemon Pie (though idealy you use the whole lemon). I like America’s Test Kitchen recipe:
http://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/detail/12717
You can always make it healthier substituting raw honey for the sugar, and so forth.
suggestion: make the juice with the whole lemons, or make a super juice just with the peels (it will be far from sweet though)
but u get used to the taste its worth it for the health!
I make perserved lemons all the time. they last forever in a big jar.. the whole lemon is cut but not separated and stuffed with kosher salt then stuffed in a big jar and then filled with lemon juice.. sits on the counter for a few days and then I throw it in the fridge and let them sit for a month or so.. then they are ready to enjoy. you pull a lemon out and wash off the salt and throw the insides out and just use the outside of the lemon.. great in all kinds of dishes and nice and soft and easy to eat.
One cautionary note on using lemon (or any citrus) peel. Lemons (and other citrus fruit) are coated with wax. Organic citrus is coated with a natural wax, such as beeswax. Conventionally grown citrus is coated with a petroleum or water-based wax that contains a fungicide. Ever since I learned this fact (in oranges) several months ago, I have been more cautious about using citrus peel. One recommendation I saw in a canning book was to dunk the citrus in boiling water and then scrub it to remove both the wax and (if conventional) the fungicide. If you can get unwaxed and organic citrus from a source near you, that would definitely be the way to go.