I eat bananas a little differently than most people.
No...not like that. But I do eat the peels and I’ll tell you why you should too!
Hi it’s Emily from Bite Size Vegan and welcome to another vegan nugget. Today’s video is bananas!
Oh god I’m sorry. That was uh..that was unforgivable).
But it is about bananas, namely the peel.
Back when I posted my what I eat in a day video,
I mentioned that I eat the peels of my bananas and people kind of flipped out.
Not as much as they did about the lettuce, but they asked what are the reasons behind it, is it beneficial, is it safe to do?
Now to be honest, this is something I started doing just because I liked the taste of it.
It was really only after being asked about it that I looked into the benefits of eating
the peel. Banana peel eating is not very common in the West, except among primates and, well,
Ooby. But it is a fairly common practice in Asia, though the peels are usually cooked
in some manner. Now a quick disclaimer: the Bite Size Vegan
channel is about all aspects of veganism and vegan living and I firmly believe that anyone
can be vegan in any way that works for them. So if you’ve come to this video and are
wondering: do all vegans eat banana peels? Do I have to eat a banana peel if I want to
be vegan? Is this their like weird secret ritual initiation rite? Let me assure you,
the way I eat bananas weirds out as many vegans as it does non-vegans.
So here are some of the health benefits of eating banana peels. And just a note- this
information was gleaned from less than scholarly research so take it with a grain of salt to
an extent. You’ll notice I’ll be saying “studies have found” or "have shown" without
citing those particular studies. This is because the sources I was able to find, though some
were written by doctors, did cite the original studies themselves. Okay, my nerd note is
over- lets get on with the peel eatin’ benefits! #1it can raise your mood- studies have shown
that banana peels contain tryptophan, an essential amino acid and a precursor to serotonin, your
brain’s happy hormone. #2 lower your cholesterol- banana peels are loaded with soluble and insoluble
fiber. Soluble fiber has been proven through a myriad of studies to lower your levels of
low density lipoprotein (LDL), the “bad” cholesterol. #3 helps you poop!- again this
has to do with the fiber content…and I think that one’s pretty self-explanatory. #4 helps
you maintain a healthy weight- because you pooped! Oh and because soluble fiber helps
you stay full. But also the pooping thing. #5 blast of antioxidants- "antioxidant" is
quite the health craze buzzword credited with everything from preventing cell damage to
reversing aging to causing unicorns and stardust to secret from your pores. In reality an “antioxidant”
is not a substance; it’s a behavior. Any compound that can donate electrons and counteract
free radicals has antioxidant properties. And they are a good thing and they do prevent
cell damage. Banana peels are rich in polyphenols and carotenoids, which are phytochemicals
with antioxidant properties. And #6 save your eyeballs- banana peels contain lutein, another
carotenoid with antioxidant properties. It’s known to reduce oxidative stress and neutralize
free radical to various organs, including your skin, but also provides nutritional sustenance
to your eyes. Lutein reduces the risk of macular degeneration and cataracts, filters out harmful
UV rays, and protects your eyes from free radical damage.
So with all that compelling information, let me show you just how I eat banana peels. I
like to take a bite of the flesh, and then I mix it with a little bit of the peel. Now
you can just kinda nibble on the stringy stuff that lines the peel or you can actually eat
the entire peel itself, which I find is really good when they're really ripe. And a quick
note: do not do this if you're not eating organic bananas. Conventional bananas are
going to have a lot of crap on the peel and you do not want to eat those. Only eat the
peel with organic bananas. Now to me, this is a delicious way to eat bananas. It might
not be fore everyone, but you can go ahead and give it a try. Now I'm going to go eat
the rest of my bananas. Now if you don’t want to eat your banana peels, don’t throw
them away! There are all kinds of cool things you can do with banana peels and I’ll tell
you all about them in another upcoming vegan nugget, which will also be bananas. I'm sorry,
I just can't stop.
I hope you enjoyed this lil’ nugget on nana peels. If you did, hit the like button and
share this around with other potential peel-munchers. If you’re new to the channel, I’d love
to have you subscribe- here at Bite Size Vegan we cover all aspects of living vegan and always
in 5 minutes or less. Now go live vegan, eat some nana peels and I’ll see you soon!