Today, I am going to address one of the questions I am asked most frequently :

“Which foods should I absolutely buy organic, and why?”

Reduction in pesticide contamination/consumption is the primary reason I purchase mostly organic food for my own family.  I don’t really need a bunch of studies to prove to me that stuff that kills some little living beings isn’t that great for bigger living beings either, but in case you do, I’ll share with you what the  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has found.  The (EPA) reports that studies show consuming foods with even small doses of pesticide residue is linked to birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other diseases. There appears to be a particular risk to young children because,

1) their bodies, organs and cells are still growing and maturing.  According to the EPA, “there are “critical periods” in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual’s biological system operates.”

2) because they are growing at such a rapid rate (newborns generally triple their weight in the first YEAR of life), children eat and drink proportionately more than adults, therefore, increasing their exposure.

3) kids like to play on the floor, in the grass,in the dirt, and other places where there are soil residues, and therefore pesticide residue.  After they do that, they like to chew on their hands,  giving the gross stuff a beeline to their developing systems.

4) their excretory systems are not fully developed, and therefore, they can not eliminate the toxic pesticides as efficiently as an adult can.

For the above reasons alone, I have given my 15-month old nothing but organic food since the day I stopped nursing her, and while I was nursing her, I consumed nearly all organic food myself.  Yes, on occasion we ate dinner at someone else’s home , and therefore, we might not have been aware of what type of food they used to prepare dinner.  And now that I’m done nursing I don’t give one hoot if Nutella is organic while I pound down a container.  But for the most part we eat at home, and we eat organic.

In order to help people economize at the market, the Environmental Working Group (a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization) has completed a list that ranks pesticide contamination in 47 commonly consumed fruits and vegetables.  The rankings are based on the analysis of 87,000 tests for pesticides over the course of seven years by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration.  Tests were performed on the fruit or vegetable as it is most frequently consumed (i.e. bananas peeled, apples rinsed).  The EWG estimates “that people can lower their pesticide exposure by almost 80 percent by avoiding the top twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead.”

CHOOSE ORGANIC WHEN BUYING THE DIRTY DOZEN (or foods made from the dirty dozen): THE TOP 12 MOST CONTAMINATED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

1. Nectarines
2. Peaches
3. Apples
4. Grapes, particularly imported grapes
5. Strawberries
6. Cherries
7. Pears
8. Bell Peppers
9. Celery
10. Kale
11. Lettuces (including Spinach)
12. Carrots

If watching your pennies, you can choose non-organic varieties of the THE CLEAN FIFTEEN: THE FIFTEEN LEAST CONTAMINATED FOODS.

1. Asparagus
2. Avacado
3. Broccoli
4. Cabbage
5. Eggplant
6. Kiwi
7. Mango
8. Onions
9. Papaya
10. Pineapple
11. Frozen Sweet Corn
12. Frozen Sweet Peas
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Tomatoes
15. Watermelon

The EWG even has a handy iPhone app or PDF file you can download to make your shopping trip easier.

As always, the advice here is something you should discuss with your health care provider, to make sure you are doing what is best for you.  I am merely sharing the information I use to decide what is best for me, my baby, and my family.

Blessings,

Melissa M Monroe, PhD, L.Ac