POTATO PEELS – DON’T JUST THROW THEM AWAY

We often peel the potato and discard the peel. My mother always fried them into spicy crispy bits and as those were the pre packaged Kurkure days, this was one of our favourite home made fast food. Her lifelong habit of frugality and her obsession with making the best use of every object purchased shaped our childhood and our choices in life. Little did I know that the skin is the most nutritious part of a potato? Not only that. Potato peels can also be beneficial for your skin and hair in a variety of ways!

 

1. They are quite nutritious! By adding it to your diet, you will get a variety of vitamins and minerals. According to the USDA, 100 g of raw potato peels contains 83.3 g of water and gives 243 kJ of energy. Apart from that, the skins also include: Protein: 2.57 g, Dietary fiber: 2.5 g, Calcium: 30 mg, Iron: 3.24 mg, Magnesium: 23 mg, Phosphorus: 38 mg, Potassium: 413 mg, Sodium: 10 mg, Zinc: 0.35 mg, Copper: 0.42 mg, Manganese: 0.6 mg, Selenium: 0.3 mcg, Vitamin C: 11.4 mg, Vitamin B3: 1.03 mg and Folate: 17 mcg. So the peels are rich in proteins, essential minerals, trace elements and vitamins and we have been routinely throwing them away!

 

2. They are good for your heart: Since potato peels are rich in potassium, an essential mineral for maintaining and regulating blood pressure, they are considered good for heart. They are also loaded with magnesium and calcium, which, according to Harvard Medical School, also help control blood pressure. Furthermore, peels have powerful radical scavenging, or antioxidant, activity because of chlorogenic and gallic acids – two dominant compounds that help maintain the health of your heart by reducing damage caused by free radicals. Recent research has shown that free radical damage may cause many chronic health problems, such as cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases. Antioxidants can prevent that damage, as they eradicate free radicals by neutralizing them.

 

3. They can help heal wounds: A very famous Plastic Surgeon of yesteryear Dr. M.H. Keshwani in Mumbai dressed burn wounds with potato peel. He compared treatment with plain gauze dressings and the application of the potato peel dressing and showed that the latter reduced or eliminated wound dessication (drying up), permitted the survival of superficial skin cells and hastened epithelial regeneration. Potato peels contain terpenes and flavonoid organic compounds, both of which have been proven to prevent bacterial and fungal infections. They moisturize the skin, and are readily available, inexpensive, and easy to apply.

 

4. They act as a natural hair coloring agent: A little-known benefit of potato peels is that they can color grey hair. The peels contain several vital nutrients, such as iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, niacin, and magnesium that help provide a natural look and color to your hair. So, if you're looking for a natural and eco-friendly way to dye your hair, just use potato peels. Boil the potato peels with a cup of water and wait for the boiled peels to cool for 5 minutes. Now strain the boiled peels through a strainer and discard them. Let the strained liquid cool and apply it on your shampooed and air dried hairs generously. Wipe the excess with a towel and allow your hair to dry naturally without washing it. Your hairs will look darker.

 

5. They act as natural cleanser and help lighten dark spots: Apart from antioxidant and antibacterial compounds, potato skins also contain phenolic compounds. Together, these compounds have a brightening effect on the skin. The act as natural cleanser and if you rub raw potato paste on your face and leave on for 25 minutes and rinse with lukewarm water, it will impart a natural glow to your skin. Thus they can help lighten dark spots on the skin or help reduce dark circles that appear under the eyes. All you need to do is collect some fresh potato skins and rub them over the dark spots for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can make a fine paste of the peels and rub them on the problem area every day. You should start seeing results in about three weeks!

 

6. Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergy effects: Potato peels are a natural source of a flavonoid called quercetin. Flavonoids are a group of natural substances found in fruits, vegetables, plants, and trees that are believed to protect against disease. Today such medicinal products derived from plants go by the fancy name of ‘Phytoceauticals’. The flavonoid quercetin has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect that protects the body against disease and infection. Quercetin can be effective for treating bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis, and peanut-induced anaphylactic reactions and is the main ingredient in several potential anti-allergy drugs.

 

7. Can reduce glucose levels: Dietary fiber and polyphenols in potato peel powder can help lower glucose levels when added to the diet for at least four weeks. Furthermore, the vegetable’s skin also helps limit free radical damage to the liver and kidneys and enhances their functions in people with diabetes.

 

8. They help in maintaining bone health: The peels consist of nutrients like magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, iron, etc., which help in maintaining bone strength and density thus reducing the risk of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women. 

 

 

How to add potato peel in our diet?

There are numerous recipes out there for making dishes with potato skins. But, you must first make sure that you are eating them in a healthy way. Otherwise, you won’t get their nutritious benefits.

•        Add them to your salads for a low-calorie healthy lunch.

•        Bake a potato without peeling off its skin and add salt and pepper, and very light simple toppings for a nutritious and delicious snack.

•        Bake potato skins with sour cream, chicken, beans. Pan toss them, add cucumber slices and salad dressings for a yummy snack.

•         Rub the cleaned skins with ghee and salt and bake them until crispy.

Potato peels are also loaded with iron, that helps support red blood cell function. The skin is also a good source of vitamin B3 that helps cells break down nutrients into usable fuel. In addition, vitamin B3 helps your cells recover from physiological stress. The indigestible portions of the potato's skin are made up of various types of cellulose, better known as insoluble dietary fiber. So, next time you are peeling a potato to create your magical cuisine think twice before throwing away the peels.

 

 

THE JAM TRINITY

The JanDhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity has proved to be a game-changer and helped in reaching out to the citizens living in the farthest corners of the country, during the coronavirus pandemic. With the lockdown placing immense strain on the household budgets of several sections of society, the JAM trinity acted as a safety net and helped millions who were in need immediate monetary assistance. Introduced in the first term of this Government, the Jan Dhan scheme proved to be a boon and its Its strong inter-linkage with the mobile linked Aadhaar scheme has facilitated swift transfer of money into bank accounts of beneficiaries without pilferage or corruption.

 

Even before the pandemic this was used as a vehicle of direct fund transfer of MSP of farm produce and Kisan Samman Nidhi. This was also the modality of transfer of relief funds for natural disasters, insurance for unskilled labourers, repaying LPG, farm fertilizer and other subsidies and MNREGA. Student subsidies for dresses, books, school-bags for students in government schools along with their scholarship money is also paid similarly. The government spends about 4.2% of the GDP on subsidies. This is a costly affair and in the past most of the benefits did not reach the intended beneficiaries. The rich ended up taking most of the benefits and corruption was rampant. Disgusted with the situation in 1985, the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, had said that out of every rupee spent by the government for welfare of the downtrodden, only fifteen paise actually reached the persons for whom it was intended!

 

As if that was not enough there were lots of leakages in the way to the beneficiaries. Over 15% of PDS rice, 54% of wheat, and 48% of the sugar are lost in leakages. The Centre and States supply rice, wheat, pulses, cooking oil, sugar and kerosene at heavily subsidised prices through the PDS. Then, sectors such as power, fertilisers and oil sell their products to people below market prices. Such subsidies cost the exchequer quite a bit. Yet, as they used to make their winding way through the hands of intermediaries, leakages, corruption and inefficiencies nibbled away substantial parts. So naturally, despite the centre announcing subsidies and aid packages there were no change in the living standards of the poor. With Aadhaar helping in direct biometric identification of disadvantaged citizens and Jan Dhan bank accounts and mobile phones allowing direct transfers of funds into their accounts, it was made possible to cut out all the intermediaries and so the corruption.

Why blame the intermediaries only, even the State governments were either corrupt or careless. Millions of students of minority communities disappeared from the list of beneficiaries when biometric identification was made mandatory for scholarships! Who was thriving on this loot before JAM?

 

Cash-based social assistance can be delivered most efficiently and timely when the percentage of the population that has access to the three components—IDs, phones, and financial accounts—is high, systems are well-integrated, the existing system of benefits and transfers has wide coverage, and benefits are paid through financial accounts linked to the ID. The government has created a JAM Index based on Findex data to rank countries on their use of ID systems, mobile phones, and financial accounts to effectively make government payments. India and Kenya are two top ranking countries in this index. The Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojna or PMJDY accounts helped the government to reach everyone, even if the accounts were zero balance accounts. Even people who hesitated to enter the mainstream were also brought in and given confidence, with opening of their accounts, disbursing of RuPay Cards and insurance cover. The financial inclusion thus brought in by Jan Dhan stood with the underprivileged during a pandemic and it was because of Jan Dhan that many people and small businesses were able to get collateral-free loans.

 

Aadhaar seeding of bank accounts gave the government an instant KYC (know your client) benefit. This enabled beneficiaries getting benefits directly into their Jan Dhan and KYC verified accounts. The government thus used these three modes of identification to implement one of the biggest reforms in independent India – direct subsidy transfers to the poor.

 

So even if the JAM Trinity does make your goods and services dearer in the short-term, take heart. Over the long-term, the plugging of leakages and savings for the government will mean a lower burden on you, the taxpayer. Of course, lower subsidies and fiscal deficit will also mean a better credit standing for India. If India can afford to immunize 1 billion plus people today, a substantial credit should go to the savings from plugging these unholy leakages, along with the extra that we are paying for petrol!

Now do you remember how so many progressive thinkers and elites, both inside and outside the country, made fun of Jan Dhan Accounts as empty accounts, wasting banking time? How a learned former Finance Minister mocked digital payment by wondering whether his green grocer will ever accept digital payment for 2 Kg of potato? Today not only the green grocer but the ice cream vendor, the three wheel driver, the barber, the cobbler and the paan-wala all accept digital payment on BHIM or PayTM apps. Imagine how much extra GST the government is earning from these digital payments! All these were cash transactions in the past and invisible to the tax-men.

 

The JanDhan-Aadhaar-Mobile (JAM) trinity has undoubtedly changed the financial condition of the poor in our country. By bringing the financially excluded in the mainstream of banking, by saving pilferage and disbursing government benefits to genuine beneficiaries in their Aadhaar seeded bank accounts linked to their mobile phone numbers, and by providing SMS updates to citizens on their bank transactions, the JAM trinity catapulted our banking and our system of distribution of subsidies to a different level altogether. Digital payment has become popular and cash is losing its vice grip on our economy.

CHANGING OUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS ADDICTS AND ADDICTION - CHASING THE SCREAM

 

Everything I knew about addiction was wrong and so was my attitude towards addicts. Then I came across a book ‘Chasing the Scream’ by Johann Hari and that made me sit up and re-think. Of late, particularly after the untimely demise of a successful actor because of alleged drug abuse, our Narcotics Control Bureau has taken upon itself the task of cleansing the Bollywood of the dreaded drug habit. We are told that the drug cartels and the terror organizations go hand in glove and so fighting the drug war is a national emergency lest we become drug heavens like Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela and lose a generation to drugs. Films like Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Charas, Dum Maro Dum, Pankh, Fashion and Udta Punjab have tried to talk about the effects of drugs on our society but the addict never gets the sympathy.

 

Being a Plastic Surgeon, with more than 3 decades of experience in trauma surgery, I have prescribed morphine and morphine like drugs called opioids to countless patients for pain relief. Did all of them become opium addicts? No, it doesn’t happen that way. Almost every adolescent attempts to behave like an adult by puffing an occasional cigarette. Do all of them become tobacco addicts?  Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain involving reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors. There is a reason why the world calls them recreational drug. Recreation is harmless if practiced in moderation. Why have we criminalized recreation?

 

Do you know that psychiatrists today classify addiction into two broad groups - Substance Related Disorders and Non-Substance-Related Disorders? Yes, for addiction you do not need alcohol, cocaine, or hash or LSD or Ecstasy every time.   Gambling Disorders, particularly internet gambling is turning out to be a bigger menace. Then we have the Internet games, excessive use of social media, such as Facebook, viewing pornography online, all these comprise the Non-Substance Related Disorders. With them also certain pathways in their brains are triggered in the same direct and intense way that a drug addict’s brain is affected by a particular substance. The gaming prompts a neurological response that influences feelings of pleasure and reward, and the result, in the extreme, is manifested as addictive behavior. It is now evident that various behaviors, which are repeatedly reinforcing the reward, motivation and memory circuitry are all part of the disease of addiction, whether they are substance related or non-substance related. So why are we going hammer and tongs after those using recreational drugs only and treating them as criminals?

 

In an interesting experiment one Prof. Alexander put two water bottles in a rat cage, one with normal water and one with opium water and invariably the rat in the cage would go for the opium water, drink it again and again till it died. But when he converted the empty cage into a rat heaven with lots of cheese and burrows and tunnels and many more rats, the animals ignored the opium water! They fed on cheese, had sex, produced babies and lived happily. So substance of abuse was their companion of boredom and solitude, and when they had better alternatives they didn’t fall for addiction. Why are we humans failing to understand this interpretation?

 

During the Vietnam War many American soldiers became addicted to various substances and this became a serious health concern. But once they returned to their loving families most of them were able to lead a normal life! Solitude of an alien country was now replaced by the love and affection of friends and family. They did not need the company of drugs anymore.

 

When we give in to our anger towards addicts, or drugs – and there’s some of it in all of us – the problem only gets worse; and when we choose a deep kind of love, the results can be amazing. But two things can be seen everywhere in the world. The first is how similar the debate is across the world. Drug prohibition is a global war, and it has predictable effects everywhere it is tried. The second is how hungry people are to hear about the alternatives. There is a deep awareness that what we’ve been doing isn’t working – but societies and governments are not trying an alternative course. What happened when Portugal decriminalized all drugs, and transferred the money they used to spend on making addicts’ lives worse to making their lives better? They actually reduced injecting drug use by 50%! When Switzerland legalized heroin, they reduced deaths on legal heroin to zero! How? We should contemplate about these questions with an open mind and urgently mend our ways.

 

One of the ways the “war on drugs” works is that it makes the people it is destroying feel that it is all their fault. It does this to drug users, drug addicts, drug sellers and the people who live in the supply route countries. It makes them feel they are dirty and defective, and soaks them in shame when actually they shouldn’t feel this way. On the contrary: they should be loved. The world owed them an apology – for inflicting this war on them. They had always been made to feel the opposite – that they owed the world an apology. In Chasing the Scream the author rightly says ‘the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety; it is connection.’

 

What is expected from the government? They should do course correction by ending the drug war and choosing a legal, regulated market for drugs instead. The one thing the cartels fear – more than anything else – is a regulated, legal market. Decriminalize certain common drugs like ganja and charas but sell them openly through licensed outlets. Prohibition of alcohol only results in death by consumption of illegal hooch, as we have seen time and again in Bihar. Over 3.46 lakh people have been arrested in the last five years and close to 150 lakh litres of country-made and Indian Made Foreign Liquor seized from April 2016 to February 2021! Prohibition has created a parallel bootlegger economy that has in turn lead to an increase in violent crime. Does this not demand a course correction?

 

Often very good books do not get the viewership they deserve. When you write a book, it’s like writing a message in a bottle and tossing it into the ocean – you know the likelihood is that nobody will ever find it, and it’s hard to picture the people who might. I’ve known plenty of people who spent years writing important books, only for virtually nobody to ever read them. Fortunately, this book, 'Chasing the Scream' has turned out to be a best seller and after reading an online review I read it and my entire outlook about treating drug addicts changed. ‘Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’ is a book by Johann Hari. It examines the history and impact of drug criminalization, collectively known as "the War on Drugs". Chasing the Scream is published by Bloomsbury and has 400 pages. In Kindle Store you can get it for Rs. 280 and the paperback costs Rs.1,352.