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:
(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).
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?