Bananas are one of the healthiest fruits you can eat, being loaded with protein, fiber, vitamins A, B6, and C, potassium, manganese, magnesium, folate, riboflavin, niacin, and iron. They are also more or less perfectly portioned and easy to grab-and-go. Bananas are delicious on their own, but nicely augment cereal, fruit salad, and even ice cream. One thing is for sure – you will stop throwing these valuable wrappers in the trash after you discover all the incredible things they can do. Know 5 benefits of banana peel that will improve everything about your life!
But we’re not here today to talk about the banana fruit, but rather its peel. Generally discarded as trash, banana peels are actually edible and provide a whole assortment of added health benefits. Surprised? As it turns out, people use banana peels to improve digestion, lower cholesterol, and heal common skin problems.
One thing is for sure – you will stop throwing these valuable wrappers in the trash after you discover all the incredible things they can do. Benefit #5 can honestly improve everything about your life!
1. Stop Itching
Starting off with a topical benefit, banana peels are great for relieving the painfully distracting itch of mosquitoes bites. Massaging the raised bumps with the inside of a banana peel can provide instant results. This remedy is also reported to work on rashes caused by poison ivy or poison oak.
Science hasn’t figured out why it works, but you can’t argue with results. People who have tried it report that one application relieves itching all day.
2. Good for Depression
Banana peels are packed with serotonin that helps in boosting your mood and makes you feel better. According to a study at the Taiwan University, if you consume two banana peels for 3 days continuously, your serotonin level will increase by 15% percent.
3. Polish Your Valuables
Banana peel that doesn’t involve eating it or putting it on your body. You can actually rub a banana peel on shoes, leather, and silver articles to clean them up and make them shine.
It’s the potassium content that makes peels good for this. Simply wipe the inner side of the peel all over the surface you want to polish and buff afterwards to achieve a brilliant shine.
4. Stay Regular
We don’t like to talk about it much, but skipping a daily bowel movement can be quite uncomfortable. One of the best ways to stay regular is to make sure you get enough fiber in your diet. While the banana fruit contains a fair amount of fiber, the peel itself is positively jam packed.
Eating the peel along with the fruit, or adding the peel to a smoothie, is an easy way to stay regular. If you can’t bring yourself to eat the whole peel, you can scrape out as much of the inside of the peel as possible and just eat that.
5. Nature Skin Care
Banana peels contain a lot of antioxidants that are great for your skin. To minimize the look of lines and wrinkles, simply rub a banana peel directly on the affected areas and leave the sticky residue for about 30 minutes before washing your face.
For all-over moisturizing, mash the peel into a paste, stir in one egg yolk, and spread the mixture evenly over your face and/or neck. Leave it for 5 minutes and then wash it off. The same treatment is also good for psoriasis, eczema, and pimples.
6. Whiten Your Teeth
There are lots of expensive ways to whiten teeth, and a lot of them use harsh bleaching agents that can actually wear away your enamel. This weakens teeth and can cause sensitivity. But guess what? Banana peel can whiten teeth naturally and gently due to its potassium content.
You don’t even have to chew the peel, but rather rub the inner side on your teeth every day for about two weeks. Results should start to show up after a handful of treatments.
7. Lowers Cholesterol
Banana peels are full of soluble and insoluble fibre. In fact, which is critical to maintaining a healthy heart. Banana peel contains more soluble fiber than the fruit itself, so throwing away the peel wastes a valuable opportunity to bump your intake.
A study conducted on a group of people who had high LDL (bad cholesterol) levels proved this fact. When the participants consumed banana peels everyday, it was reported that their bad cholesterol levels were decreased noticeably.