If want to stay safe and clear of things like cancer-causing chemicals, consider this list of what to eat.
Pesticides are used on our food every second to help fight off bugs and diseases that can destroy crops. At this moment, many farmers are busy applying the stuff like mad.
It’s estimated that over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the U.S, and a lot of it ends up in our water and food.
In fact, the US Department of Agriculture has estimated that a total of 50 million people across the country currently drink water from groundwater that is potentially riddled with pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.
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The trouble is that they can cause cancer and birth defects, among other bad outcomes. Knowing that pesticides are good news for the effort to keep crops abundant but bad news for our health is what often leads us to simply buy fruits and vegetables and then wash them.
Thankfully, the Environmental Working Group publishes a list of fruits and vegetables that rank the highest and lowest in pesticide use, each year. Certain foods have more than others.
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Why the difference? Some say that it’s about appearance. We’ve been conditioned to expect our food to look a certain way and to be blemish-free. Finding bugs in our fruits and veggies is such a turn off that we’re likely to never buy food from that brand ever again, if it does happen.
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Because of the physical make-up of certain foods–dirt and insects can hide, unseen, a lot more effectively in broccoli than on an apple-certain foods get a higher dose of pesticides sprayed on them.
In fact, the use is so prevalent, that even washing your food before consuming it doesn’t get all the chemicals off.
What can you do to avoid problems? Buy certified organic fruits and veggies whenever you can. Of course, don’t avoid consuming fruits and vegetables altogether, as that’s even worse for your health, but do consume them in an informed way.
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If you can, grow some food in your backyard yourself, and you’ll know exactly what’s on it.
In order to shop intelligently, check out these lists of worst and best offenders, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Here are the top 10 worst offenders with most pesticides:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Pears
- Pears
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Celery
- Tomatoes
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Here are the top 10 fruits and vegetable with the lowest pesticide count:
- Eggplant
- Mangoes
- Asparagus
- Papayas
- Sweet Frozen Peas
- Onions
- Cabbage
- Pineapples
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn
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Health experts recommend eating between 5 and 13 servings of fruits and vegetables each day, in order to stay healthy. That’s about 2.5 to 6.5 cups of goodness every 24 hours. If you can, include one dark green vegetable and one orange one daily, for optimal vitamin and mineral intake.
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