You're probably familiar with Dr. Oz, a physician who now has a daily talk show. I've seen bits of his show several times and I almost always find myself in an emotional struggle while watching. On the one hand, I think it's great that there's a physician out there, sharing integrative approaches to preventive health and disease management. He does a lot of good in terms of emphasizing the importance of proper nutrition and addressing hot topics in health and wellness. That's all great. But, on the other hand, when I hear him talking about food or supplements (or whatever the topic) I'm often very frustrated by what I believe to be dissemination of misinformation. I feel like he sometimes offers advice that is less than accurate, perhaps because he thinks the general public won't go along with his recommendations if they're more strict. I think that's unfortunate. I think it's irresponsible. I'm all for offering sensible solutions, but not at the cost of misrepresenting the whole truth, particularly when you have such a huge, trusting audience. I think, in that situation, it's best to lean towards the side of caution and to be conservative.
Okay, Jen, take a breath. Sorry about that. I got really fired up by this latest Dr. Oz encounter, in which he was talking about the top 4 foods to be worried about in terms of pesticide exposure. He proceeded to uncover each fruit or veggie (strawberries, peaches, apples, and spinach) and discuss how many distinct pesticide residues the USDA had found on them -- each had residues from 40-70 different pesticides. Dr. Oz proceeded to tell his audience that you can simply soak strawberries in water for 2 minutes to help remove the dirt and pesticides, and then you'll be "pretty much out of the woods". Next up: apples. You can just scrub those with a brush. Next: spinach. His solution? Buy frozen because the blanching process (prior to freezing) helps remove the pesticides. Finally: peaches (the worst in the bunch in terms of pesticides). This is when he mixed up a solution of water, vinegar, baking soda, and lemon juice that you can use to spray your fruit to clean it. My reaction? Other than seething and mentally drafting my letter to the The Dr. Oz Show, my reaction was ... B.S.!!!!! This is absolutely absurd!
I should also mention that there was an expert on the show, a toxicologist, but Dr. Oz continually blew past her comments. Every time he offered some absurd solution for washing your pesticide-covered fruit/veggie with baking soda or giving it a water bath (what?!?!), she said, "You should also consider buying organic" and "The only way to be sure is to eat organic". She repeated this for each of the four highlighted fruits/veggies, and she also made the very important point that pesticides aren't just sitting on the surface of your fruits and veggies, awaiting the baking soda rinse -- they are often inside the cells of your produce because they can travel up from the ground and water into the plants via their root systems. His response to her suggestion about organic produce was, "Yeh, that's the expensive solution."
So, what should you do to protect yourself from pesticides on your produce?
Well, here's my rebuttal to "Yeh, ... the expensive solution". Yes, organic produce costs more than conventional produce. That's true. But, let's be a little more open-minded about our options. There are a number of fruits and veggies that are relatively safe to buy conventionally grown ("The Clean Fifteen", for starters), so you can save your money by not buying organic for those items and you can eat proportionately more of The Clean Fifteen if you're on a tight budget. The only way to ensure that you're getting the lowest possible amount of dangerous pesticide-residue cocktails on your produce, though, is to make sure you buy organic for the really dangerous ones ("The Dirty Dozen"). And if you feel like you can't afford that, consider this when it comes to the Dirty Dozen: buy organic, but buy less. Eat more Clean 15 and less Dirty Dozen. Make peaches a treat instead of a staple, for instance.
And you know what? Every once in a while, you can buy conventionally grown apples, strawberries, and greens, but make a concerted effort for this to be the exception and not the rule. And when you do buy conventionally grown Dirty Dozen fruits/veggies, why not give Dr. Oz's recommendations a try? Give your strawberries a 2-minute water bath. Peel your apples. Spray your peaches with vinegar-water-baking soda-lemon juice solution. Maybe you'll remove some of the pesticide residues on those fruits and veggies, but please don't be fooled into thinking that washing your peaches with vinegar and baking soda is the same as buying organic.
Exposure to these pesticides can lead to asthma and other respiratory distress, cancers, and countless other conditions. Isn't it worth shifting your buying behavior just a bit in order to protect the current and future health of you and your family? Think about all the disease you'll be preventing and all the money you'll save on future medical bills.
Eat Well. Live Well. Be Well. Consider Organic, and Learn Your Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen.
No comments:
Post a Comment