Don’t throw away those strawberry leaves!
( because, like other bits of fruit and veg you discard, they can be good for you )
TO GIVe your health an extra boost, put the vegetable peeler back in the drawer — for those skins, stalks and scrappy bits we chop or pare off fruit and vegetables are often the healthiest bits of all.
‘Some nutrients, such as vitamin C and fibre, are more concentrated in or just under the skin, so you can dilute the benefits by removing it,’ says registered dietitian helen Bond.
‘And those bits you tend to discard, the harder, redder outsides of onions or the darker, outside bits of leafy greens, tend to be higher in compounds such as flavonoids and carotenoids, which have reputed antiinflammatory and antioxidant effects.’
here, we look at how you can extract even more goodness from the bits of fruit and vegetables you’d normally throw out.
STRAWBERRIES
DON’T DISCARD: The green leafy top. INSTEAD: Steep in hot water to make a herbal tea. ThOSe star-shaped leaves attached to the top of a strawberry — the hull or calyx — are packed with antioxidants. A study in the Czech Journal of Food Sciences reported that strawberry leaves have antioxidant levels comparable to white wine and fruit drinks, such as grape juice, and just a bit lower than red wine or green tea.
Antioxidants mop up harmful molecules known as free radicals, which our bodies produce naturally, and are thought to help protect us against the type of damage that can lead to cancer and heart disease.
Strawberry leaves contain high amounts of a group of antioxidants called ellagitannins, which are linked with vascular health (i.e. flexible blood vessels and healthy blood pressure). In traditional herbal medicine, strawberry leaves are also used to soothe arthritis pain — they contain caffeic acid, which is thought to be anti-inflammatory.
Steep six to seven strawberry calyxes in a mug of hot water to replace one or more of your cups of tea a day.
ONIONS
DON’T DISCARD: The skin. INSTEAD: Add to stock. The papery skin isn’t something you can eat as it is, but these inedible layers can be added to stocks, where they will give extra depth of flavour and nutrients.
The skin is the part of the onion richest in the pigment quercetin — it’s not destroyed by boiling and will leach into the stock.
‘Research suggests quercetin is graduated throughout the onion, with one investigation showing as much as 48 times the amount in the skin compared with the centre,’ says helen Bond.
Quercetin has anti-inflammatory and anti-histamine properties and has been linked with reduced hay fever symptoms.
It may help with hypertension, too. In a 2015 British Journal of nutrition study, an extract of onion skin was found to lower blood pressure in overweight adults with high blood pressure when taken daily for six weeks.
however, the researchers admitted they did not know how the blood pressure reduction was brought about.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH
DON’T DISCARD: The seeds. INSTEAD: Roast them. LIKe pumpkin seeds, butternut squash seeds are a good source of important minerals, in particular zinc (you get 15 per cent of your daily needs in one 15g tablespoon) and magnesium (you get more than 10 per cent of your daily needs per tablespoon).
Zinc is important for cognitive function and the reproductive system, while magnesium helps with energy production and can fight fatigue. ‘Scoop out the seeds, pat them dry and toast in a brush of oil in a medium oven for 20 minutes or so,’ says helen. ‘They make a tasty sprinkle you can add to salads, cereal or yoghurt.’
SPRING ONIONS
DON’T DISCARD: The green ends. INSTEAD: Chop finely and add to dips, stir-fries and salads, or use as a garnish for soup. MAnY people throw out the green, milder-tasting part of the vegetable, but it’s actually ‘a better source of the B vitamin folate, which is important for energy’, says helen Bond.
eat the whole of a spring onion (a larger one weighs around 25g) and you’ll get 54 micrograms of folate, just more than a quarter of the recommended daily amount, compared with the 17 mcg you get from eating only the bulb.
You’ll also get plenty of beta carotene — around an eighth of your daily need of immune-enhancing vitamin A, compared with virtually none if you eat only the bulb.
PINEAPPLE
DON’T DISCARD: The core. INSTEAD: Chop into small pieces and use in a fruit salad. though a little tougher and less sweet than the meat, pineapple core is perfectly edible and is richer in bromelain — a protein digesting enzyme used in powdered form as a meat tenderiser.
Bromelain consumed in foods or supplements is a natural digestive aid, so a dessert of fresh pineapple, including the core, would be good after a meat-heavy meal.
In animal and laboratory studies, bromelain has also been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity, and to aid the repair of tendons and tissues, so it is sometimes recommended to help with knee pain, sports sprains and strains and arthritis.
however, the evidence that it does actually help in these conditions in humans is lacking.
KIWI FRUIT
DON’T DISCARD: The skin. INSTEAD: eat it with the fruit. despite its furry texture, kiwi skin is completely edible — though you might want to go for a gold-skinned variety with a thinner, smoother and almost completely hairless outside, which is easier to stomach.
eating a kiwi fruit with the skin intact increases the vitamin e and folate content by around a third, according to research last year commissioned by Zespri, a kiwi fruit brand.
It means that a large (80g) kiwi fruit with the skin left on provides around an eighth of your recommended daily vitamin e intake and around a sixth of your daily folate levels — both of which help to boost the body’s immune defences against illness and infection. Folate also plays a role in fighting tiredness and fatigue.
eating the skin boosts fibre levels by as much as 50 per cent, too. An average golden kiwi with skin contains 1.7g, and a green one with skin has 3.6g — the daily fibre recommendation is 30g.
CABBAGE
DON’T DISCARD: The outer leaves. INSTEAD: Chop and stir-fry them. Those less-than-pristine deeper-green outer leaves often get thrown out, but they’re actually much higher in carotenoids than the paler inside leaves — up to 50 times higher, according to Public health england data.
Carotenoids — a type of plant pigment which have an antioxidant effect — such as lutein and zeaxanthin, are important for eye health. ‘Stir-frying the outer leaves is a good idea as a little oil helps our bodies absorb these fat-soluble antioxidants,’ says helen Bond.
This does not destroy the nutrients as long as it’s a fast stirfry in hot oil.