Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I'm Lynn Goldstein, a Registered Dietitian.
You wouldn't intentionally sprinkle pesticides on your salad or stir them into your vegetable
soup, right? But by buying certain fruits and vegetables, that's exactly what you could
be doing.
What's a little toxin? you might ask. Well, pesticides are designed to kill living things
so it makes sense that they can be harmful to both people and the environment. In fact,
certain pesticides have been linked to skin, eye and lung irritation; nervous system toxicity;
hormonal disruption; and even cancer. Recent studies have shown that the more women are
exposed to certain pesticides while pregnant, the greater the risk of their children developing
cognitive problems (including a lower IQ). Now that's serious.
Are you wondering if they're getting into your system? The answer is: probably. In 2009,
the CDC conducted a study of more than 5,000 Americans over 6 years old, and found pesticides
in almost 96% of them! More than 60% of the people had seven or more pesticides in their
bodies on the day they were tested. Yikes!
Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting you swear off fruits and vegetables completely.
In fact, the USDA recommends that we eat about five 1-cup servings of them every day, and
most of us don't get enough. So how do you find the ones that give you the best nutritional
benefits without the unwelcome toxins?
Let's start with the word "organic". Organic usually refers to the way farmers grow and
process fruits and vegetables, and also other foods like grains, dairy and meat. Organic
farmers don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock
disease. For example, organic farmers may do complex crop rotations and spread mulch
or manure to keep weeds in check rather than use chemical weed killers. They might also
use certain bugs or birds or even traps for pest and disease control rather than chemical
sprays.
The USDA uses the term organic to officially certify food that is produced without synthetic
chemicals or fertilizers, genetic engineering, radiation or sewage sludge. I don't want that
stuff in my food anyway, do you?
The non-profit organization, the Environmental Working Group, has been looking at this issue
for a while. To help consumers make healthier choices, it created The Dirty Dozen list that
ranks the 12 fruits and vegetables most likely to be contaminated. And it also ranks The
Clean Fifteen, those least likely to be contaminated.
Research has found that people who ate five non-organic fruits and vegetables a day from
the Dirty Dozen list consumed on average ten pesticides a day. In contrast, people who
ate from the Clean Fifteen list consumed less than two pesticides a day.
Of course, I'd recommend buying organic over conventional food as much as possible. But
if that's not realistic, spend your money on organic versions if you're eating from
the Dirty Dozen. They are: celery, peaches, strawberries, apples, blueberries, nectarines,
bell peppers, spinach, cherries, kale/collard greens, potatoes, and imported grapes. We
usually eat these whole so when we eat the skins, which is where the pesticides tend
to accumulate, we're consuming more toxins.
The Clean Fifteen tend to be produce with thick skins or peels that we don’t eat (like
bananas, citrus fruits and onions). And when we eat those, even if they're not organic,
it usually means we're consuming fewer chemicals.
The easiest way to reduce some pesticide residue is to wash all fruits and vegetable really
well. Washing won't remove it all, but it will make a difference.
As a Registered Dietitian, I always recommend eating fruits and vegetables. And with the
Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists, you can skip the poison without skipping the produce.