| We know that pesticides are definitely dangerous to | | | | Those vegetables have a high chance of containing |
| human health. We also knowthat one of the best | | | | pesticide residues, some of themcontaining several! |
| things we can do to avoid pesticides is to consume | | | | The Least Contaminated Produce |
| organicfood. However, this isn't always possible due | | | | ---> Now, for the "good" vegetables, here's the |
| to several restraints: availability, price,etc. | | | | top, least contaminated, in order ofpurity: |
| There's another thing we can do, however, to | | | | - Sweet corn |
| reduce our pesticide exposure: avoidthe fruits and | | | | - Avocado |
| vegetables that are the most contaminated. | | | | - Cauliflower |
| When organic is not available, eat fruits and | | | | - Asparagus |
| vegetables with consistently lowpesticide loads. | | | | - Onions |
| It's been shown that you can lower your pesticide | | | | - Peas |
| exposure simply by avoiding thetop 12 most | | | | - Broccoli |
| contaminated types of fruit and vegetables, and | | | | ---> The least contaminated fruits are: |
| eating the leastcontaminated instead. | | | | - Pineapples |
| Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and | | | | - Mangoes |
| vegetables will expose a person tonearly 20 | | | | - Bananas |
| pesticides per day, on average. Eating the 12 least | | | | - Kiwi |
| contaminated willexpose a person to a fraction over | | | | - Papaya |
| 2 pesticides per day. | | | | Very few mangoes and pineapple have pesticide |
| The Black List | | | | residues on them, and when theydo they usually |
| So, what are the most contaminated fruits and | | | | contain only one type. Bananas do often contain |
| vegetables? Here's the black list,according to the | | | | pesticide residues,but rarely multiple ones. |
| most recent data analysed: | | | | Conclusion |
| ---> The top 4 are fruits, in the following order: | | | | To avoid pesticides, the best thing is to consume |
| #1 (Most Contaminated): Peach | | | | organic foods. When that is notpossible, select the |
| #2: Strawberry | | | | foods that have the least pesticides on them, and |
| #3: Apple | | | | avoid those onthe "black list." |
| #4: Nectarine | | | | ---> Other importance tricks to help reduce our |
| ---> The other highly contaminated fruits in the | | | | pesticide exposure: |
| top 12 are: | | | | * Peel non-organic fruits, whenever possible*: That |
| #5 Pears | | | | means pears, apples, etc. I knowmany nutritionists |
| #6 Cherrie | | | | say that the peel contains the most vitamins, but it |
| #7 Red raspberries | | | | isn't quitetrue. The peel of fruits is indigestible, so |
| #8 Imported grapes (Chile, Mexico, etc.) | | | | even though it may contain many vitamins,they are |
| Some of these fruits, such as peaches and | | | | not assimilated as well as the vitamins in the flesh of |
| nectarines and raspberries, can containup to 45 | | | | the fruits. |
| different pesticides! Overall, studies show that those | | | | *Wash your produce with a non-toxic soap*. You can |
| fruits have a highchance of being contaminated with | | | | buy a non-toxic soap forwashing produce in most |
| a good number of different pesticide residues. | | | | health food stores. Use this soap to wash your |
| As for the vegetables, those that are the most likely | | | | non-organic peaches, or other fruits if you happen to |
| to expose you to pesticideresidues are: | | | | buy them. |
| #1 Celery | | | | Remember however that eating non-organic fruits |
| #2 Spinach | | | | and vegetables is still better thandrinking organic beer |
| #3 Potatoes | | | | or eating organic pizza! |
| #4 Sweet Bell Pepper | | | | |