NaturalCounselor Health and Wellness Blog For Women

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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