If you’ve been doing the healthy eating thing for a while you have definitely heard a buzz or two about eating organic. (Check out this healthy eating plan!) And like most people you may have wondered if you need to consume all organic foods or should you be more selective about buying organic. Organic foods after all can be quite expensive! However even if on a tight budget, there are some foods you should definitely buy organic simply because of the amount of pesticides sprayed on foods during conventional farming.
With conventional farming practices the average fruit/ vegetable is sprayed with up to 70 different types of pesticides (including carcinogenic ones). Yikes! For example, celery is typically found to contain 64 different types of pesticides… hot peppers can contain 75 pesticide residues, including known carcinogens and neurotoxins. According to the Environmental Working Group there are 300 pounds of pesticides sprayed on every acre of conventional strawberries…. Imagine putting that in your body?
So how do you avoid ingesting so much pesticides?
One way is to diligently wash fruits and vegetables. You can also remove their skin before eating/ cooking them.
A third way and the most effective way to avoid pesticides and gunk on your foods is to buy organic! Even if you are on a tight budget there are some foods you should always aim to buy organic as they are high up on the pesticide scale. Generally any food with soft skin (like grapes, tomatoes and berries) should be bought organic as they can easily absorb anything sprayed on them.
Here is a list of 15 foods to buy organic (even if you are on a tight budget!):
It is specially important to buy these if they are a staple in your diet!
- Berries (including blueberries, strawberries and raspberries)
- Apples (including applesauce and apple juice)
- Peaches & Nectarines
- Celery: found to contain 64 different types of pesticides!
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Spinach/Kale/ Leafy greens
- Cherry Tomatoes: found to carry 69 different pesticides
- Sweet bell peppers
- Cucumbers: If you don’t buy these organic, peel the skin before serving!
- Hot pepper
- Dairy (can contain antibiotics and growth hormone)
- Corn: is one of the most modified foods out door, I would just stay away or buy organic!
- Potatoes: the average potato had more pesticides by weight than any other type of produce!
- Snap peas: Snap peas were found to have more than 70 different pesticide residues!
If you are searching for a more complete guide to healthy eating, I would recommend checking out this holistic meal plan!
