Organic Foods... Do They Really Matter?
Traditionally people have always thought that organic has to mean healthy right? But lately some people believe that the word organic is just a scam to upcharge the price of your produce.
At Bizi we believe that things are always good in moderation. That includes organics too. However, did you know that some organic foods are more important to buy than their non organic siblings?
The Dirty Dozen outlines which organic produce is more critical to buy than the counterpart. Why are these dozen foods selected over others? It boils down to the ingredients that are sprayed onto the foods when they are being farmed. Farmers use pesticides to help keep their crops from dying and being destroyed by insects and other pests, but certain foods can retain a lot of these pesticides when we eat them.
These 12 foods absorb more of the pesticides that other foods do. One of the more pesticide-redden fruits are strawberries. “Strawberries, which top the list as having the highest levels of residue, can contain 22 different types of pesticide residues on just one sample. One-third of all non-organic strawberries contain 10 or more pesticide residues.”
These Pesticides can have neurotoxins, which can lead to rashes, nerve damage, burning and numbness of the skin.
Here are the 12 foods you should always buy organic:
Strawberries
Spinach
Nectarines
Apples
Grapes
Peaches
Cherries
Pears
Tomatoes
Celery
Potatoes
Sweet Bell Peppers
These foods should always be organic when buying them.
However there are certain foods that you don’t need to buy organic as they don’t absorb as much pesticides as the other foods on the dirty dozen list. Here are the foods you don't have to buy organically :
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapple
Onions
Papaya
Sweet peas (frozen)
Eggplant
Asparagus
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kiwi
Cauliflower
Mushrooms
Honeydew melon
Cantaloupes
“The primary pesticide law – the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, or FIFRA – is far less health protective than the laws that protect the safety of our air, food, water and environment. (Environmental working group)”
When it comes to eating healthy and keeping your body in great shape avoid those dirty dozen foods. Keep in mind that you are what you eat, and these foods are what they eat as well.
SOURCES
https://www.greenmatters.com/p/dirty-dozen-clean-15
https://www.ams.usda.gov/datasets/pdp