They did you a favor. The advantage is, you only have to peel One Carrot. And it’s not that hard to cut it up, you could even make carrot sticks and dice half of them for stew, or cut half and shred half for carrot salad. The sticks keep nicely in the fridge with a little cold water.
I mean, that’s reason to wash it, but I don’t think there’s a medical argument for peeling. Could be wrong though, but I’ve never heard of this being a problem ever.
Some, but not most. There’s significant nutrition in the phloem (layer under the skin) which is not removed by peeling. And even the center has nutritional value. It is best to peel them just before using rather than let them sit around once peeled, since the peel protects them.
honestly i don’t mind a bit of dirt with a touch of poop. if i myself pluck a carrot out of the ground - i’ll just wash it a bit and proceed to chomp
what i do mind is the number of hands and various containers the carrot goes through before it gets bought by me at a store. theoretically, nobody has to touch a carrot for it to appear in the store (harvested mechanically, transported in large quantities, thrown out of a box onto the store display), sure, but i’m not counting on that, nor am i counting on the fact they wash their hands properly
I peel carrots because to me the peel tastes like dirt. As for that whole poop discussion, I’m pretty sure that guano in the soil is not the worst contaminant on the skin of the carrot. E. coli on vegetables for instance usually comes from the hands of someone who handled it. And many carrots have pesticides on them.
I grant you that the skin probably also contains lots of vitamins, although there’s still plenty in the interior. And giving the carrot a really good scrub would get the skin clean.
But I’ve never been able to scrub away the dirt flavor to my satisfaction. So I peel them with a carrot peeler. The existence of which indicates it’s a common enough behavior not to merit an interrobang.
They did you a favor. The advantage is, you only have to peel One Carrot. And it’s not that hard to cut it up, you could even make carrot sticks and dice half of them for stew, or cut half and shred half for carrot salad. The sticks keep nicely in the fridge with a little cold water.
You peel carrots? Why‽
Because they’ve been in the ground, and the ground is mostly poop
I mean, that’s reason to wash it, but I don’t think there’s a medical argument for peeling. Could be wrong though, but I’ve never heard of this being a problem ever.
Oh boy do I have bad news for you.
Basically everything in your environment is covered in human poop.
If you bring a carrot into your home it has way less poop on it than your toothbrush.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’ll be sick if I eat the outer layer, I’m just grossed out by the thought.
Medical argument against it actually, as you remove most of the healthy stuff.
Some, but not most. There’s significant nutrition in the phloem (layer under the skin) which is not removed by peeling. And even the center has nutritional value. It is best to peel them just before using rather than let them sit around once peeled, since the peel protects them.
honestly i don’t mind a bit of dirt with a touch of poop. if i myself pluck a carrot out of the ground - i’ll just wash it a bit and proceed to chomp
what i do mind is the number of hands and various containers the carrot goes through before it gets bought by me at a store. theoretically, nobody has to touch a carrot for it to appear in the store (harvested mechanically, transported in large quantities, thrown out of a box onto the store display), sure, but i’m not counting on that, nor am i counting on the fact they wash their hands properly
In root vegetables, 80% of the vitamins are in the skin, and the flesh is nearly pure carbs. You’re throwing away most of the good stuff.
Because the peel tastes nasty?
Same reason some people peel potatoes. I don’t bother myself, I just wash them (unless I’m eating the carrot fresh without cooking)
I peel carrots because to me the peel tastes like dirt. As for that whole poop discussion, I’m pretty sure that guano in the soil is not the worst contaminant on the skin of the carrot. E. coli on vegetables for instance usually comes from the hands of someone who handled it. And many carrots have pesticides on them.
I grant you that the skin probably also contains lots of vitamins, although there’s still plenty in the interior. And giving the carrot a really good scrub would get the skin clean.
But I’ve never been able to scrub away the dirt flavor to my satisfaction. So I peel them with a carrot peeler. The existence of which indicates it’s a common enough behavior not to merit an interrobang.
Though I do love an interrobang, so thanks.
Editing to add: https://www.nutritionletter.tufts.edu/general-nutrition/does-peeling-carrots-remove-nutrients/