{"id":21830,"date":"2010-05-22T01:01:09","date_gmt":"2010-05-22T06:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=21830"},"modified":"2010-05-21T13:16:00","modified_gmt":"2010-05-21T18:16:00","slug":"pesticides-and-organic-produce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/05\/pesticides-and-organic-produce\/","title":{"rendered":"Pesticides and Organic Produce"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Guest bloggers, The Nutrition Twins\u00ae Tammy Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT and Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT are authors of The Secret To Skinny<\/a> and Fire Up Your Metabolism.<\/em><\/p>\n

Our clients often ask us if they should be concerned about the pesticides that are used on their produce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what you should know.<\/p>\n

Most pesticides contain several toxins.\u00a0Pesticides cause cancers in cell cultures and in animals.\u00a0They may also cause hormonal changes which can cause additional harm.\u00a0Studies also show pesticides increase the risk of cancer in humans. The National Cancer Institute found that farmers exposed to pesticides tend to have higher than expected rates of cancer of the lymph, blood, lip, stomach, skin, prostate, brain, testes and soft tissue.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Naturally, you\u2019re probably wondering\u2014should you stop eating fruits and vegetables?<\/em><\/strong>
\nNo.\u00a0Their benefits far outweigh their risks.\u00a0However, weigh your risks of specific fruits and vegetables. Start by taking a look at the list of fruits and vegetables below.\u00a0The ones that we call \u201cThe Dirty Dozen\u201d are the ones that contain the most pesticide residues.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ask yourself this question: How often do I eat produce with the most pesticide residues?\u00a0Then, limit your exposure to the produce that is most heavily sprayed by either buying organic, or avoiding the most heavily sprayed produce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will washing fruits and veggies rinse away the pesticides?
\n<\/em><\/strong>Washing will not change the rank (in the lists below) of the fruits and vegetables with the highest & lowest amount of pesticides.\u00a0The produce was washed & prepared for normal consumption prior to testing for pesticides. Washing fresh produce may help reduce pesticide residues; it clearly does not eliminate them.<\/p>\n

What is the best thing you can do?
\n<\/em><\/strong>Eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic<\/a> when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. Research from the Environmental Working Group (EWG) has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables ingest fewer than two pesticides daily.<\/p>\n

Use the lists below to make the best choices for 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When possible, buy organic versions of the\u201cThe Dirty Dozen:\u201d<\/p>\n

1. Celery
\n2.\u00a0Peaches
\n3.\u00a0Strawberries
\n4.\u00a0Apples
\n5.\u00a0Blueberries
\n6.\u00a0Nectarines
\n7.\u00a0Bell Peppers
\n8.\u00a0Spinach
\n9.\u00a0Kale
\n10.\u00a0Cherries
\n11.\u00a0Potatoes
\n12.\u00a0Grapes (Imported)<\/p>\n

Below is a list of the least heavily sprayed fruits and vegetables.\u00a0If you are watching your budget, as most of us are, you don’t have to put as much emphasis on buying organic versions of these:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Onions
\n2.\u00a0Avocado
\n3.\u00a0Sweet Corn
\n4.\u00a0Pineapple
\n5.\u00a0Mangos
\n6.\u00a0Sweet Peas
\n7.\u00a0Asparagus
\n8.\u00a0Kiwi
\n9.\u00a0Cabbage
\n10.\u00a0Eggplant
\n11.\u00a0Cantaloupe
\n12.\u00a0Watermelon
\n13.\u00a0Grapefruit
\n14.\u00a0Sweet Potato
\n15.\u00a0Honeydew<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest bloggers, The Nutrition Twins\u00ae Tammy Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT and Lyssie Lakatos, RD, CDN, CFT are authors of The Secret To Skinny and Fire Up Your Metabolism. Our clients often ask us if they should be concerned about the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695],"tags":[861,29,3026,860,3387,242],"class_list":["post-21830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","tag-fruit","tag-nutrition","tag-nutrition-twins","tag-organic","tag-pesticide","tag-vegetables"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21830"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21832,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21830\/revisions\/21832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}