In every season it is important to pay attention to the words detox, fruits, vegetables, and the “dirty dozen.”. Let me explain why it is so important to pay attention to your detox options and the list of fruits and vegetables that have the highest level of pesticides. and why sometimes even healthy foods can make you sick.
For example, we may make a resolution to try to incorporate more vegetables and fruits into our diet, but a couple of weeks or months later we feel worse than we are supposed to, so we go back to our old eating habits.
Does that sound familiar? The worst part is that most of the time you feel guilty, see yourself as a failure and blame yourself for your excuses. True? Well, don’t!
We may feel obligated to start eating more fruits and vegetables, because we know from TV, books, media, etc. they are very important for us to stay healthy. But do you know that all fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides, even those that are organic.
Unfortunately, the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink contain dangerous chemicals and toxins. Everything is full of toxins nowadays, and when I say everything I mean literally everything: the make-up you apply on your face, lipstick for your lips, tooth paste for your teeth, soap for your hands, detergent for your clothes, shall I continue? Did you know that while using the shower for 10 minutes, the chemical in the water penetrates through your skin into your blood?
As for fruits and vegetables, some of them we can eat in large quantities and be happy about it, but for others it is better to avoid them because even if they are organic, they can do more harm than good for our health.
Have in mind that organic produce doesn’t mean pesticide free. Organically grown fruits and vegetables are grown in better soil and have less pesticide.
So as you can see, it is very important to know which fruits and vegetables make up the dirty dozen. Since celery, strawberries, apples absorb pesticides easily, we have to think twice before buying them even if they are organic. If you really have to buy from the list of the dirty dozen, you can buy organic only in smaller amounts, you can buy local (if you know that the farm is small and they care about their produce), or you don’t buy at all.
Below are the rankings of the “dirtiest” fruits and vegetables based on an Environmental Working Group Survey.
These fruits and vegetables you should buy only USDA certified organic (i.e. the “dirty dozen”):
1. Peaches 100
2. Apples 93
3. Bell Pepper- 83
4. Celery – 82
5. Nectarines – 81
6. Strawberries – 80
7. Cherries – 73
8. Kale – 69
9. Lettuce – 67
10. Grapes – if imported from outside U.S. – 66
11. Carrot – 63
12. Pear – 63
Now that you have learned about the “Dirty Dozen,” read about the clean fifteen fruits and vegetables you don’t have to buy organic, because they don’t retain or absorb pesticides easily (but you still have to wash them).
Breathe, smile and be happy.
©Irina Wardas, HHC
Women’s Holistic Health Coach and Counselor
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June 16, 2009 at 4:53 pm
While this is a great list to have when considering just straight pesticides, it’s really astonishing how many other factors should be considered. Which pesticides are more harmful, which have the greatest effect on children, which can pass on to future generations (yikes!), and which are better for our farmers and environment. Trying to keep it all straight makes my head dizzy! There’s another list dubbed “Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx” which does a pretty good job of balancing in more than just one or two factors. I really encourage people worried about their health to keep both the pesticide list and Dr. Greene’s list in their hip pocket and shopping cart! His list can be found here http://www.drgreene.com/21_2154.html, and has text and video descriptions.
Thanks for spreading the green health message!
June 16, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Thank you for sharing Claire. Have a fabulous day. Breathe, smile and be happy.
March 25, 2010 at 9:41 am
Thanks for this post. It is most helpful. I eat many oranges and they were not on either list.
March 25, 2010 at 10:11 am
Good for you, Heidi. Oranges not only rich in vitamin C but also a great instant mood booster-squeeze some skin, breathe and smile…
March 25, 2010 at 10:22 am
Hi Irinas!
I have been taught by other nutritionist that we should buy all organic fruits and vegetables because they have better nutritional value than conventional produce. I guess that I am questioning why you would put a list of produce that doesn’t need to be organic. Please clarify. Is this just for the purpose of detoxing and for those who don’t want to spend the extra $ for organic?
Breathing, smiling and being happy!
Tomasa
March 25, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Hi Tomasa,
Unfortunately, not everyone can afford buying all fruits and vegetables organic nowadays. The least we can do is to avoid “dirty dozen”. I’ve included more fruits and vegetables, so people can make the right choices and use common sense.
Breathe, smile and be happy.
March 26, 2010 at 7:24 am
Thank you Irina…this came at the PERFECT time for me as I am starting a five day cleansing fast today. It will be even healthier now. Truly appreciate all you share!
March 26, 2010 at 9:18 am
Hi Edie, like your new picture. Good luck with your cleansing fast. The most important days are the first two and the last two – transition in and out.
Breathe, smile and be happy.
June 13, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Many of the foods on your list of non organic are also highly probable to be GMO if non-organic, so that is something else to consider.
June 15, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Absolutely! But it will be another article:-)
Breathe, smile and be happy.
August 6, 2011 at 9:20 am
Thank for sharing this. I tried growing my own strawberries this year because I heard that they are loaded with pesticides. I am glad I saw your referral for the shower head because I was about to purchase one and I like one of the shower filters on that site.