Poison #3: Pesticides
Dr. Oz brought Dr. Alan Greene to join him for the pesticides segment. Pesticides often have neurotoxins that are directly toxic. If kids have higher levels of pesticides, they tend to have an increased risk of ADD and learning problems. A study was done where they took two groups of animals and fed them the same amount of food, gave them the same amount of exercise, and the only difference is that one group got a little bit of pesticides in their food. The group that got the pesticides gained 10% more weight in abdominal fat. If that does not convince you to change over to organic fruits and vegetables, which greatly reduce your exposure to pesticides, then I don’t know what will.
Most Important Organic Fruit & Vegetable: Apple & Potato
Dr. Oz asked Dr. Alan Greene, if we could only buy one organic fruit or vegetable, what should we pick? Dr Greene said that he would pick organic apples, because apples are the number 2 most popular fruit in America. And if you can only buy one type of organic vegetable, buy organic potatoes, because the pesticides get both onto the inside and the skin of the potato.
The Full List: 53 Fruits and Veggies
EWG analyzed pesticide residue testing data from the US Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration to come up with rankings for these popular fresh produce items.
Lower numbers = more pesticides. 1 (worst) to 53 (best)
1 Apples
2 Celery
3 Strawberries
4 Peaches
5 Spinach
6 Nectarines - imported
7 Grapes - imported
8 Sweet bell peppers
9 Potatoes
10 Blueberries - domestic
11 Lettuce
12 Kale/collard greens
~~~The 12 above are called the dirty dozen starting from the top 1 down~~~
13 Cilantro
14 Cucumbers
15 Grapes - domestic
16 Cherries
17 Pears
18 Nectarines - domestic
19 Hot peppers
20 Green beans - domestic
21 Carrots
22 Plums - imported
23 Blueberries - imported
24 Raspberries
25 Green beans - imported
26 Summer squash
27 Oranges
28 Broccoli
29 Green onions
30 Bananas
31 Cantaloupe - imported
32 Honeydew melon
33 Cauliflower
34 Tomatoes
35 Papaya
36 Cranberries
37 Plums - domestic
38 Winter squash
~~~Below are the 15 lowest in Pesticide starting from the bottom 53 of the list up~~~
39 Mushrooms
40 Grapefruit
41 Sweet potatoes
42 Watermelon
43 Cabbage
44 Kiwi
45 Cantaloupe - domestic
46 Eggplant
47 Mangoes
48 Sweet peas - frozen
49 Asparagus
50 Avocado
51 Pineapples
52 Sweet Corn
53 Onions
Click here for FAQ about Produce and Pesticides- http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/faq/
