It’s Bananas: You Can Eat The Peel

So I just learned this crazy thing: you can eat the banana peel! And not only can you, you should. The peel has tons of extra nutrients and vitamins in it that can be hard to come by, especially on a plant based diet, like vitamin B6 which is critical for elevated energy and mood. It fills you up, tastes good when prepped right, and lo and behold, helps the planet a lot when a mass of us know about it and do it.

This info graphic from Sustainable America covers the details of it, but basically food waste is a big problem in America/ the world. Way too much food is carted around in gas burning trucks, put through gas burning processing plants and grocery stores, carted home in gas burning cars, tossed in plastic garbage bags when it’s not eaten, and transported to the dump in more gas burning trucks. It’s completely nuts when you think of how many people are hungry right here, now, today and internationally.

I think we can do better, but we have to talk about how and turn solutions into trends long enough that they become our habits.

 

 

So far the easiest way to eat and use the peel is just cutting the banana and blending it right into your daily smoothie. I have a vitamix high speed blender that completely blends everything quickly into a super smooth consistency so that might be why it is working for me so well. This is an instance where I would extremely highly recommend going organic as well, it’s better for all fruits and veggies anytime, but this is a pretty big one.

Check out my pina colada smoothie recipe if you need a little inspiration. I’m also planning on trying to make my favorite banana pancakes knowing about this trick by blending the whole banana with a touch of almond milk first before I add it to the oat flour. This would also be great in some fresh baked banana bread or muffins, or mixed into cookies. I’ve also seen people slice the peel up very thin into strips and pickle it, candy it, or flavor and saute it. Get experimenting and let us know what worked.

Bananas contain B vitamins, manganese, vitamin C, fiber, potassium, biotin, and copper. They help prevent high blood pressure and protect against atherosclerosis and can also help keep blood cholesterol levels at healthy balance. Their iron levels relieve anemia (another very important nutrient that many plant based people have to pay attention to) and have the power to counteract calcium loss and enable bone strengthening. They’re also a natural antacid and can provide relief from acid reflux, heart burn, and can even restore electrolytes lost after dehydration. No wonder that banana lady is so happy. 🙂

Ditch the sugary Gatorade and make an amazing loaded banana power smoothie for your post work out instead and don’t forget the peel!