The Appeal of Apples

September 25, 2024 2:04 PM

Should You Peel Your Apples? Peeling your apples means you're missing out on nutrients, right? Wrong. "The consumption of apples, such as the apples tested in the present study, results in an exposure to pesticides that is low for unpeeled apples, and lower for peeled apples. Moreover, there was no significant loss of nutritional value from eating peeled apples based on the nutrients investigated. "
posted by storybored (22 comments total)

I'm 180 degrees from the presumed target audience of this study, but it's nice to know that I haven't massively increased my pesticide exposure by eating every apple peel in my presence as a kid.
posted by EvaDestruction at 2:19 PM on September 25, 2024

> © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.
posted by Callisto Prime at 2:21 PM on September 25, 2024 [3 favorites]

Callisto Prime's comment is not a joke, omg!

But here's the wikipedia page for that org, I'm not sure what to make of it.
posted by MiraK at 2:30 PM on September 25, 2024

I can’t access the full article.

Did they was the unpeeled apples before testing?
posted by oddman at 2:32 PM on September 25, 2024

Every part of the apple is edible, if you are ready to believe.
posted by pattern juggler at 2:42 PM on September 25, 2024 [4 favorites]

Unpeeled apples just taste better.

Can't be doing with the toenails around the seeds, though.
posted by flabdablet at 2:48 PM on September 25, 2024 [5 favorites]

where are we on avocados?
posted by logicpunk at 2:56 PM on September 25, 2024

© 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

That's the copyright of the journal the study was published in. The authors appear to be entirely affiliated with various French universities. SCI appears to be an industry group along the lines of IEEE, etc.

I'd love to read the actual paper. One of my kids will eat 3-4 apples a day if they're available. I've googled "how many apples is too many apples" more times than I'd care to count.

he keeps undergrads away.
posted by phooky at 2:57 PM on September 25, 2024 [3 favorites]

pattern juggler: "Every part of the apple is edible, if you are ready to believe."

I don't eat the seeds or the stem. But that's all I'm left with after eating an apple.

(Technically those parts are edible, but the seeds are a bit odd-tasting and the stem is too fibrous)
posted by caution live frogs at 2:57 PM on September 25, 2024 [1 favorite]

Ah, thanks phooky. I’ll see if I can get a strikethrough edited in.
posted by Callisto Prime at 3:04 PM on September 25, 2024

(For the record the seeds are technically edible insofar as the resulting microdoses of cyanide won’t hurt you, but I believe the lethal dose is around 60 seeds at once so don’t overdo it!)
posted by Callisto Prime at 3:07 PM on September 25, 2024

According to USA Today, the minimum number of seeds to kill you is 150. But according to r/theydidthemath, that’s off by three orders of magnitude. Either way, they are completely safe if you swallow the seeds and don’t chew them up.
posted by rikschell at 3:27 PM on September 25, 2024 [1 favorite]

If you start an apple from the bottom, you're not even left with a stem! Peeling an apple is too much work for no benefit I perceive, so I just leave em on. Do like a sliced apple to eat with peanut butter.
posted by GoblinHoney at 3:34 PM on September 25, 2024 [2 favorites]

Ha, Mac was right!

If you do happen to accidentally swallow an apple seed, just smoke a couple cigarettes and the smoke will negate any harmful effects.
posted by Saxon Kane at 3:38 PM on September 25, 2024

I used to save up the seeds and eat them separately because the bitter taste was somehow refreshing, but never more than two or three tablespoons at a time, and they are really hard to peel.

But isn’t the peel where almost all the pectin is? You know, the stuff that empties you out and keeps the turbulent and hungry pack of doctors at a safe distance?
posted by jamjam at 3:48 PM on September 25, 2024

Some 2016 stats:
- No pesticide residues were detected in 62.5% of organic samples and 0.8% of conventional samples.
- The average conventional sample of Apples contained 9.1 times as many more residues than the average organic Apples sample.
- Among samples of Apples with residues, conventionally grown Apples posed dietary risks 563.9 times higher than the residues in organic Apples.
posted by Lanark at 3:50 PM on September 25, 2024 [1 favorite]

I love the peel. Not just for the taste, but the texture as well. I do always slice apples before eating them; too often when eating an apple whole, I've found a bug (or worse, part of a bug) or bitten into a rotten spot. Now, I just can't get over that. So, every apple gets sliced up. About the only time I peel an apple is when making a pie or scones, but then I save the peels as a little treat for me. :D
posted by xedrik at 3:54 PM on September 25, 2024 [2 favorites]

Good to know. But I do skim the outside of the apple with a sharp knife before cutting it to get some of the wax off, a surprising amount sometimes.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:54 PM on September 25, 2024

you could... wash it?
posted by Clowder of bats at 4:00 PM on September 25, 2024

Apples supposedly secrete their own wax, but how you'd distinguish that from wax applied I don’t know.

I’ve had a hard time getting rid of the wax on apples from the supermarket using soap and water, and it’s one of the factors that keeps me from eating as many apples as I want.
posted by jamjam at 4:08 PM on September 25, 2024 [1 favorite]

But according to r/theydidthemath, that’s off by three orders of magnitude.

Which way?
posted by achrise at 4:53 PM on September 25, 2024

I have to confess I was quite surprised that one time a house guest chopped up her apple, core included, to put with her muesli & yogurt. I hope it didn't show too much on my face, but it probably did. I don't know whether she ate the stem.
posted by the antecedent of that pronoun at 4:54 PM on September 25, 2024