There are some healthy eating guidelines that you should follow when eating fruits and vegetables. Healthy fruits and vegetables may be the best way for you to avoid many of the diseases and illnesses plaguing our modern society, but are all of these foods created equal?
Let's look at this topic in more detail.
Good Healthy Foods Are Easily Contaminated
Pesticides, herbicides, and other pollutants used on most farms easily contaminate good healthy foods making them unsafe to eat. Consuming contaminated fruits and vegetables creates a toxic overload your liver must neutralize and then eliminate from your body.
Toxic overload and the resultant stress it places on your body may lead to unforeseen and unwanted health problems.
At best, your liver can handle the job of detoxifying your body but this is not always the case. However, in the case of an already overloaded liver that cannot rid your body of these toxins any number of serious health risks may occur.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit group geared toward offering information and opinions regarding public health issues such as pollution and nutrition has compiled a list of fruits and vegetables that may be less prone to toxic contamination than others.
This is very important for those who are unable or unwilling to buy organic produce that is not exposed to such contaminants.
Healthful Food Choices
Produce that has a strong, pesticide and contaminant resistant outer layer, which may provide a barrier to allowing chemical impurities to access the inner fruit, include:
- Onions
- Sweet Potatoes
- Avocadoes
- Mango
- Pineapple
- Sweet Corn
- Asparagus
- Sweet Peas
- Kiwi
- Cantaloupe
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
Washing Vegetables And Fruit
Regardless of which fruits and vegetables you buy it is a good practice to wash these foods prior to cutting into them or consuming them whole.
Think about this for a moment.
If there are pesticides or other contaminants on the outside of your food, and you cut into that item with a knife or fork, then the contaminants will be carried from the outer layer onto the soft inner flesh you will be eating.
In essence, you have unknowingly put the contaminants into your food.
That's not such a good idea.
Better yet, why don't you wash your raw vegetables and fresh fruit with a specially formulated wash that is designed to remove pesticide residue? Such items are available in most supermarkets and health food stores.
In a pinch, regular soap or detergent will suffice though thorough rinsing will be necessary.
Learning to keep your healthy fruits and vegetables free of pesticides and other residue so your body is not contaminated is definitely worth the extra time and effort.
By Dr. Dale Heil
