It has always seemed SUCH a waste to me - the squeezed out citrus peels. Yes, we compost them but I have always had a sneaking feeling there was more to them than my annual batch of Pomelo-Ginger Marmalade. And we get through such an absurd amount of citrus here in Asia, where lime is added to everything and stupid cheap, and the little tangerines are in season most of the year.
Enter Dr Zach Bush. I freely admit to being a groupie after hearing him speak online several times during the beginning phases of Covid-19. And it was from him that I learned about the incredible healing powers of citrus skins - and that they can and should be boiled out and used as a natural medicine.
In fact, I distinctly remember the interview where Dr Zach Bush suggested that this would be HIS go-to preventative medicine for most things viral and contagious.
Never one to just go on someone else's say so, I did some reading:
Dried tangerine peel (Citri reticulatae) is used as traditional Chinese medicine, pericarpium called chen-pi to cure a wide array of ailments, including bronchial asthma, dyspepsia, and cardiac circulation, (China Pharmacopoeia Committee, 2010). A number of scientific studies report it as a rich source of many flavonoids, especially flavanone glycosides and polymethoxy flavones, which play a great contribution in protection against life threatening diseases such as cancer, atherogenesis, (Tripoli et al., 2007; Benavente-Garcia and Castillo, 2008) and neuro-degeneration disorders (Youdim et al., 2004; Hwang et al., 2012). Source
The citrus flavonoids have been found to have a health-related property, which include anticancer, antiviral and antiinflammatory activities, reduce capillary fragility, and restricts human platelet aggregation (Huet, 1982, Benavente-Garcia et al., 1997). Source
...a reduced risk in development of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and multiple sclerosis have consistently been reported in numerous epidemiological studies (Glass et al., 2010). These natural compounds possessed neuroprotective ability and resulted suppression of activated microglia-mediated neuroinflammation. Source
Let me see.... neuro-protective, anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-bacterial....? 🤔
So how do I use them in my day to day?? They're biter and taste pretty awful if you chomp on them just like that.
I boil them out with a few slices for fresh ginger, for maybe 15 mins. Make sure your limess-tangerines-oranges-lemons-grapefruits are organic. It can become VERY bitter, so just 3-4 limes per pot of water is tons.
When they're cooked through, turn off the heat and add some coconut sugar, or raw natural honey, or pure maple sypup.
Drink it down warm of you have a cold coming on.... vastly improved by a large splosh of rum, whiskey or brandy!
Or keep it cool in the fridge and make it a daily preventative health drink.
So simple, so easy and SUCH a helpful thing we can do for ourselves. AND you can still compost the citrus peels later, after they've been used for your natural medicine.
I'm thinking more about the Chinese customs of preserved cumquats and candied peel as expensive health gifts at the Autumn festval, and I'm constantly thinking how progressive their ancient healing culture was. I mean, what better to share as the days get cooler and colds & sniffles abound?
If you've not seen or heard much from Dr Zach Bush before, I highly recommend him! Lots of valuable content online to share and enjoy... this one seems rather relevant to the citrus peel preventative medicine thought.
