Kiwi fruit skin is definitely edible, and there’s a lot of different theories about eating it.
In New Zealand, it’s very common to eat kiwi raw, with the skin, while in other parts of the world the vast majority of people eat only peeled kiwis.
Kiwi fruit skin contains high levels of flavonoids, insoluble fiber and antioxidants: these substances all have a beneficial effect on your body’s metabolic functions
(flavonoids and antioxidants) and on your digestive system and cardiovascular apparatus (insoluble fiber).
Common sense, however, should be practiced in this respect: while raw kiwi fruit skin contains these beneficial substances, it also tends to contain more than 99,95% of
of the pesticides in that particular fruit (if they have been used), which largely outweighs the benefits from flavonoids and antioxidants.
In addition, some people find the fuzzy feeling of the hairy skin to be annoying, so they remove the hairy layer before eating the skin: this procedure is generally
advised since it also removes most solid inedible debris that may have accumulated on the skin (it’s very common for any kiwi fruit to carry at least 0,1 grams of sand, earth or
dust on its surface). Long term consumption of even microscopic debris has been linked to the chance of developing several digestive diseases such as inflammations, displasia and colon polyps, so it’s usually a good idea to remove the
hairy layer, even if you enjoy eating kiwis with the skin.
On the other hand, if you’re sure about your kiwi being free from pesticides (for example, if you grew your kiwifruits in your own backyard), then eating the skin is a nice
added benefit to the already abundant health effects of kiwis: just remember that if you live in an urban area with lots of traffic, air pollution alone will be enough for your fruits’
skin to accumulate harmful quantities of heavy metals, so once again, please use your common sense.