pesticides-related stories
Do We Really Need Vitamin Supplements?
Health, Healthy Eating, Dear Healthy Foodie
Hi Doug,Do you think we really need vitamin supplements? It seems to me that we never would have evolved to the point we are now if extra vitamins in our diets were necessary.
Lee
Hello Lee,
In an ideal world, we would get all our necessary nutrients from the foods that we eat and not need to supplement our diets with anything. Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world. In fact, we live so far from an ideal world that I personally think we all need to be supplementing.
To really assess this question, however, we need to look at who is asking. Does an indigenous person, living on the land their family has grown food on for generations, in a sustainable manner, in pristine soils, untouched by pollution and modern convenience foods need to be supplementing? Possibly not. Do you know anyone who's actually living this way? Not likely.
It would be nice if getting all the nutrients we need on a daily basis was something we didn't need to worry about, but our food, and our world, have changed considerably.
How Do I Wash Pesticides Off My Fruit?
Health, Healthy Eating, Don't Eat This
Good morning Doug!Living in a winter climate, we do not have certain organic fruits readily available at our local health food store (i.e. blueberries). I try to incorporate blueberries in my daily diet, considering they contain essential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as keeping my memory sharp. Substituting frozen blueberries doesn't always taste the same as wild blueberries. My question is, by soaking non-organic blueberries in vinegar for a period of time, would this remove contaminants and pesticides? Also, would it remove the nutrients in the blueberries?
Thanks,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Unfortunately, substituting conventional produce for organic is sometimes necessary, especially in colder climates like Canada where the selection of organic produce available tends to decrease in the winter. While organic is preferable, you can always check the EWG's ranked list of the most pesticide-saturated produce to see which fruits and veggies are alright and which would be better avoided.
Are You Eating Toxic Foods? Tips on Detoxing
Everyone's increasingly concerned about what we're eating and where it comes from, but even some seemingly healthy choices are filled with toxins. Dr. Janine Bowring, ND, explains how to avoid dangerous food.
Q: What commonly makes foods toxic?
A: Foods can be deemed toxic if they contain things such as pesticides, heavy metals and other environmental toxins such as PCB's and dioxins found within them. Unfortunately, our food is more toxic than we think. Even seemingly non-toxic organic food can be high in heavy metals, causing a number of health concerns.
Foods can also be considered toxic if they are difficult to digest by an individual. A common culprit is wheat products. Most people now have difficulty digesting wheat because this grain has been altered over the years to become more pest-resistant. For this reason, it can cause digestive ailments for many of people. Packaged food containing a number of preservatives is also toxic. We should focus on eating whole foods as much as possible to stay healthy and prevent disease.
Q: What affect can eating toxic foods have on our health?
List of the Most Pesticide-Laden Produce
Health, Healthy Eating, Don't Eat This
Peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce and imported grapes - these are the top ten most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables available for sale in the U.S. according to the newest Environmental Working Group report.
Most vs. Least Contaminated Produce
THE BAD: Peaches have been found to be the food most contaminated by pesticides. 96.7 per cent of peaches tested were contaminated while 87 per cent were found to have multiple pesticides.
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THE BAD: Apples tied with peaches for most pesticides found on single fruit sample.
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THE BAD: 81.5 per cent of sweet bell peppers tested had pesticides on them, while they also had the highest number of pesticides found on a sample vegetable sample with 11.
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THE BAD: Celery was the vegetable most likely to have pesticide on it, as 94.1 per cent of samples tested were contaminated.
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THE BAD: Nectarines were the overall most likely produce to have a pesticide on them, with 97.3 per cent of samples coming back contaminated.
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THE BAD: Strawberries were found to be contaminated by 38 different types of pesticides, while a sample of strawberries found eight different pesticides on a single berry.
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THE BAD: Cherries fell just behind strawberries as the seventh most contaminated produce.
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THE BAD: Lettuce is also likely to have multiple pesticides on it as testing found 57 types of chemicals on lettuce samples, including nine on a single sample.
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THE BAD: Kale was one of the vegetables most likely to be contaminated with multiple pesticides, with 10 types being found on a single sample, while more than half (53.1 per cent) of samples had multiple pesticides on them.
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THE BAD: Grapes fell just short of ninth place on the most contaminated list, with imported varieties being more likely to contain pesticides.
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The full report lists 47 different types of produce and ranks them from worst (most pesticide residue) to best (least pesticide residue).
