Easy poisons to stop consuming

dirty dozen, Cut this out for your purse or put it next to your shopping list

Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 Foods

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables is super important for staying healthy but like many people, you might be worried about the health risks from pesticides.

Pesticides are a big problem with non organic food and that can be really bad news from a health perspective. High exposure to pesticides and other toxins from our food has been linked to fertility problems and even cancer.

In the 2018 Dirty Dozen report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), there was evidence of pesticides or contamination with pesticides in a lot of the non organic produce tested and some produce had high numbers.

It’s not all bad news … there’s also a Clean 15 that puts you on safer ground when it comes to toxins. But as you’ll see from the Dirty Dozen, it definitely pays to go organic with a lot of your fruit and veggies!

The Dirty Dozen

So, what are the worst offenders when it comes to pesticides? These fruits and vegetables didn’t come out of it very well in the EWG’s 2018 Dirty Dozen report:

Strawberries - There were a whopping 22 different pesticides in one sample of strawberries. Even worse, roughly 20% of the strawberries contained 10 or more pesticides. Some of these include carbendazim (a probable hormone disruptor, especially for males, which is banned by the European Union on safety grounds) and bifenthrin (a possible carcinogenic). As well as pesticides, the EWG highlights that strawberry fields tend to also be sprayed with poisonous fumigants that kill bugs and, sterilize the soil. Some started out as chemical warfare gases!

Spinach - Spinach was found to be full of pesticide residue - 97% of the spinach tested had pesticides or pesticide residue. Mold and mildew killers, bug killers, permethrin (an insecticide linked to ADHD in kids, even at fairly low levels) and DDT are just a few of the nasties that were highlighted. The “dirtiest” spinach sample contained 18 different pesticides or pesticide residue.

Nectarines - Almost 94% of nectarines tested contained at least two different pesticides, and one sample had 15.

Apples - 90% of apples tested contained pesticides or pesticide residue. Diphenylamine (which is banned in Europe) was also found in 80% of samples.

Peaches - Over 99% of peaches tested positive for pesticides, with an average of 4 different ones.

Pears - Nearly half of the pears tested had 5 or more pesticides. These included carbendazim (a suspected hormone disruptor), diphenylamine (a potential carcinogenic) and acetamiprid (which is often used to kill bees).

Cherries - On average, there were five different pesticides found in cherries. One of these was iprodione, a potentially carcinogenic pesticide that is banned in Europe.

Grapes - Over 96% of the grapes tested had either pesticides or pesticide residue. The average number of pesticides found was five.

Celery - Over 95% of the celery tested was found to contain pesticides or had been contaminated with pesticides.

Tomatoes - The average tomato sample contained four different pesticides. One sample was found to have 15 pesticides.

Sweet Bell Peppers - Nearly 90% of sweet bell peppers tested had pesticide residue.

Potatoes - On a weight for weight basis, potatoes were found to have more pesticide contamination than any other produce. 

The Clean 15

There is some good news: not all of your fresh produce is quite so likely to be loaded with nasties. It varies a bit but some of the produce from the Clean 15 list hardly contained any pesticides at all.

Avocado - Avocado was one of the least contaminated produce items in the EWG report - less than 1% of what was tested was found to have pesticide residue. A total of 360 avocados were tested and only one type of pesticide was found.

Sweet corn - Along with avocado, sweet corn was one of the lesser culprits for pesticides. Less than 2% of the sweet corn tested was found to have pesticides.

Pineapples - 90% of the pineapples tested had no pesticides or pesticide residue. There were only 5 different pesticides found across all of the samples.

Cabbage - Out of 700 cabbage samples, only two were found to have more than one type of pesticide, and 86% didn’t have any pesticides at all.

Onions - None of the onion samples had more than three pesticides, and over 90% didn’t contain any pesticides.

Sweet peas (frozen) - Around 80% of the frozen sweet peas tested didn’t feature any pesticides or pesticide residue. None of the sweet pea samples had more than two pesticides.

Papayas - 750 papaya samples were tested and none contained more than three pesticides. Roughly 80% of the papayas tested had no pesticide residue.

Asparagus - 90% of the asparagus samples tested had no pesticide residue and none of them contained more than three pesticides.

Mangos - 78% of the mangos tested had no pesticides and none contained more than two pesticides.

Eggplant - Around 75% of the eggplants tested had no pesticide residue and none contained more than two pesticides.

Kiwi - 65% of the kiwis tested had no pesticides and maximum of six different pesticides were found across all of the samples.

Rockmelon - Only 10% of cantaloupe samples contained more than one pesticide and over 60% contained none.

Cauliflower - Roughly half of the cauliflower samples had no pesticides.

Broccoli - 70% of the broccoli samples tested had no pesticides. Around 10% had more than one pesticide.

Honeydew - Roughly half of the honeydew tested contained no pesticides. None had more than four pesticides.

What about washing and peeling produce?

Washing your produce gets rid of a few pesticides but it’s not a perfect solution, especially for the Dirty Dozen. Some pesticides can get inside the produce itself and no amount of washing can tackle that!

Knowing this I go out of my way to priorities locally spray free or organic produce, home grown or from local farmers market.

It is not always possible budget or location wise. In the case I have a dirty dozen food I use one of the following.

1.    Enjoy fruit and veg cloth to remove the outside skin but keep the fibre

2.    A fruit and vegetable wash https://safeguardproducts.com.au/images/stories/veggie-wash-brochure.pdf

3.    Apple cider vinegar and water. 1 parts ACV : 4 parts water, soak for 20mins

Buying organics is also a great way to build the phytochemicals you consume. Organic produce is often argued to be higher in nutrients. This is not exactly the case. They are higher in Phytochemicals, the antioxidants the plant produces to fight for itself. These phytochemicals are a bonus antioxidant for us as humans and not as high in non organic produce.

Time to review your health? Looking to feeling like your old self, get more out of life?

Give me a call on 9332 1119 or email us reception@nhcwa.com.au for either an online or face to face appointment

Kacey Grieves - Naturopath