Can You Eat Mango Skin?

Sometimes, it’s quite normal to have this question in mind: whether you can eat the skin of mango or not? Well, we often feel that the skin or the upper covering of a fruit or vegetable is obviously useless for us. But the skin or the outer covering of fruits and vegetables acts as the protective covering for the flesh present inside them.

Mango is of the most loved fruit by all, and besides having unlimited nutritional benefits in the fruit, the outer covering or the peel of mango is also fully enriched with a lot of nutrition as well as health-related benefits.

Often people argue that mango’s skin is very much filled with the nutrition it must be consumed rather than just being tossed. Well, in this article, we are going to discuss the various importance and drawbacks of eating mango skin and can mango skin be eaten.

Nutrition value of Mango skin

Mango skin has a wide range of nutrients and health benefits, which many people do not know and think of them as useless. The mango peel is enriched with many chemicals such as Penta-O-galloyl-glucoside and ethyl gallate, which are very beneficial in inhibiting tumor growth. They also help in lowering the chance of heart diseases.

The mango skin is also essential in protecting our liver’s health and helping it function properly. According to the research, mango skin is loaded with polyphenols, vitamin C, vitamin E, dietary fiber, carotenoids, and many other essential nutrients that are very important for our immunity system.

There are many antioxidants such as mangiferin, quercetin, norathyriol, and resveratrol, which are also present in the mango’s upper skin. These antioxidants help in counteracting radical damage, reduces aging, and also prevent various cancers. These antioxidants also help in protecting from various harmful UV rays of the sun. Consuming mango peel is also a cure for people suffering from dysentery, indigestion, constipation, and piles.

Should I Eat Mango Skin/Peel?

Mango skin is fully packed with many essential nutrients and other chemicals that are important for our healthy life. As mango skins are edible and are eaten by many people, one common question comes to our mind: can I eat mango skin/peel? The answer is up to you though the potential benefits are much more than the drawbacks, which include tough texture, unpleasant taste, the effects of pesticides, and many other allergic reactions. But it is totally up to you as the essential nutrients which are found in the mango skin are also available in various other fruits and vegetables, and there is not that much need for the peel or the skin of the mango.

Although the skin of mangoes has very high fiber quantity in them, as well as vitamin A and vitamin C, which may help you in controlling blood sugar, cholesterol and reduce body fat, these vitamins and nutrients can also be found in many other vegetables and fruits which can be eaten, but if you can compromise with the unpleasant taste and texture, then you can eat it as you don’t have to buy additional fruits or vegetables to fulfill these requirements of vitamins and minerals for your body.

Ways To Eat Mango Skin

If you feel like eating mango skin, there are many ways to eat it, and these can be practiced easily. The simplest way to eat a mango skin is just consuming mangoes, just like you consume an apple, pear, or peach that is just like biting the fruit with your teeth and eating the flesh as well as skin both together.

The other way through which you can eat that skin, and it will also taste better, is by tossing skin on mango slices into your juices or smoothies.

Blending or mixing mango skin with other tasty ingredients is an excellent way through which you can consume it.
Whenever you are eating a mango without skin or skin, you must wash the mango because the pesticides and other chemicals can be removed.

Potential Drawbacks Or Side Effects Of Eating Mango Skin (Allergy)

Even after having a lot of nutritional benefits of mango skin, there are also some drawbacks of eating mango skin; many allergies and certain dtysfunctioning of body parts happen after consuming these skins of mango.

Mango skin contains urushiol, some cocktails containing organic chemicals found in poison ivy and poison oak, which are very risky for our lives. Urushiol, which is a compound present in these skins, can promote allergies in some people, especially those who have sensitivities to poison ivy and other urushiol heavy plants. These mango peels also have a very bad impact on your skin as it may cause some itchy rashes and also lead to swelling of the skin.

In today’s world, a lot of vegetables and fruits are treated with pesticides to fight with bacterias and insects. Eating such mango skins will ultimately lead to the consumption of these harmful chemicals directly into the body, which in the future will have a terrible impact on our health. Such as the reproductive system and endocrine system disruption and also increases the chance of having various cancers.

Despite having a lot of health-related benefits, the fibrous texture and unappealing taste of skins of mango may sometimes turn you off eating them.

The Bottom Line

This article discussed that the mango skin is edible and is filled with various essential nutrients, vitamins, fibers, and various other chemicals, which are very much important for our body.

Even after having these many nutrients and health benefits, the unpleasant taste, texture, pesticides, and residues may cause many allergic reactions, and there are many difficulties in consuming such skins.

Well, we have also discussed various ways or techniques through which we can consume mango with skin or consuming skin directly.

At last, merely consuming a diet with all essential nutrients will fulfil all your body needs, and you must not have consumed the mango skin or any other vegetables or fruits skin.