I scroll through TikTok a lot, and recently, I've noticed quite a few lemon peels on my For You page.
Specifically, I've seen videos of women encouraging other women to eat lemon peels. According to these videos, eating the peel can lead to feelings of euphoria after about 45 minutes, and it can help open and activate your third eye.
For reference, here are some of the videos I've seen:
Before trying the trend, I spoke with Dr. Tara Knott about its safety and validity. "Lemon peels contain fiber, vitamin C, and some minerals. There is a wide range of suggested health benefits from eating lemon peels, but more research is needed," Dr. Knott told BuzzFeed. "For most people, they are safe to eat, but the euphoric feeling and mood and energy boost are likely a subjective experience."
Disclaimer: Dr. Knott advised those with certain medical conditions and on specific diets to talk to a doctor before participating in this trend.
Then, I wanted to try the lemon peel for myself. Luckily, I had a lemon on hand!
So, after washing the lemon, I cut some of the peel off.
Then, yeah, I ate the peel. Spoiler alert: It does not taste great.
Pardon the drama, but I needed to convey just how unpleasant this was.
Then, I waited!
At 25 minutes, my mouth still tasted aggressively lemony, but otherwise, I felt normal.
At 45 minutes, I still felt totally normal.
At an hour, I noticed that my nose felt super tingly — as though I was always about to sneeze. Other than that, nothing.
At an hour and a half, I did start to feel a little more alert and energized, but still pretty normal. I certainly didn't feel bad, just not quite as ~euphoric~ as I'd hoped.
Though I wouldn't say the experience made me feel particularly euphoric, I did perhaps get a slight energy boost out of it. If you want to add lemon peels to your diet, there are better ways to do it than just munching on the peel like I did. Adding lemon zest to a meal, making tea, and candying the peels are all much tastier alternatives to what I did. You may not feel euphoric, but you will be consuming vitamin C, fiber, and minerals.
