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Citrus Peels
9 Feb 2020
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Dr Greger has a curious tip in one of his videos: citrus peels are health promoting! He explains that some unknown compound in citrus peels helps DNA repair, thereby protecting us from cancer, especially skin cancer.

Video: Citrus Peels and Cancer: Zest for Life? (3 mins, 2016)

Article: Health Benefits of Citrus Zest (2016).

Excerpt from Page 301 of How Not To Die (576 pages, 2015) by Dr Greger:

"Adding citrus to your meals not only adds colour, flavour, aroma, and a bit of culinary flair but also nutrition.

Citrus zest lives up to its name in terms of enlivening dishes. And it may do the same to your DNA repair capabilities. On average, humans appear to suffer eight hundred hits to their DNA per hour. If not fixed , this can cause mutations that give rise to cancer. Comparing identical and fraternal twins, researchers have determined that only part of your DNA repair function is determined genetically. The rest may be under your control.

The dietary factor found best able to boost DNA repair was citrus fruit. Within two hours of consuming citrus, your DNA becomes significantly more resistant to damage, which may help to explain why citrus consumption is associated with lower risk of breast cancer. Some of the citrus compounds thought responsible — which concentrate in the breast and enhance DNA repair — are found in the peel though. This may be why people who eat at least some citrus peel appear to have lower skin cancer rates than those who don't."

(2016) Citrus Peels and Cancer: Zest for Life?

(3 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger explains that a heat-sensitive compound in citrus peels protects us from DNA damage, thereby protecting us from cancer (particularly, skin cancer).

How To Consume Citrus Peels?

Citrus family includes {lemon, orange, pomelo, key lime, grapefruit, tangelo, citron, …}. See Wikipedia article on citrus. How may we consume the peels of all these fruits? We have to keep in mind what Dr Greger mentions in his video above, that the compound in citrus peels that aids DNA repair is 'heat sensitive'. My interpretation is that we should consume citrus peels raw, without heating them. Here are some ideas:

Salads: In bay area, California, we get Meyer Lemons — also sold in Costco these days in bulk for a great price. The skin of Meyer Lemons is totally edible. We can eat the skin raw. So we may mince the skin like onions and add it to salad.

Salad dressings: Here is an example recipe: Blend together 1 lemon, 2 dessertspoons of tahini, 1 tsp mustard seeds and 4 dates. [Store in fridge — may ferment due to dates, so don't keep for long]

Smoothies: Some people seem to add whole lemons or Meyer lemons (including the skin) into their morning smoothie! Is it okay to consume all parts of a lemon: peel, pith, seeds and flesh? Yes, Dr Greger explains this in a Q&A session: watch from 3:39 to 5:23 in this video — he blends whole lemons, including their seeds.

Some people add whole clementines or whole satsumas to their smoothies!

Frozen Cubes: Lemon Ice Cubes (made of whole lemons).

Whole Fruit: Kumquat is a citrus fruit (seasonally available in California) that is always eaten whole!

Zests: We can prepare clementine zest or lemon zest and store it in freezer for use later. We can zest other citrus too.

Sweetened orange peels?: Such recipes typically use added sugars like white sugar. Maybe a WFPB preparation could center around dates: some combination of orange peel + dates?

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