Do You Rinse Your Produce Before You Eat It?
At the very least, you should run your fruits and vegetables under cool water to decrease your exposure to bacteria and pesticides that are hanging around.
If you read my last post you already know that I had a significant incident of food poisoning, lasting longer than 2 weeks, while on vacation. I am quite upset about it, and the accompanying inconveniences, so I began researching how to better protect myself against this senseless illness.
Although there isn’t much we can do about our food when we eat out, other than always ordering deep-fried foods which will surely be devoid of any bacterial residue, there is a lot we can do to protect ourselves at home.
It is super easy and worth the minimal effort.
Rinsing produce under cold running water works well to remove some of the pesticides but, scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station found that three liquids mixtures are more effective than plain water.
They are: salt water, vinegar water and baking soda water.
It turns out that the most effective way to remove bacteria and pesticides was by using the baking soda water. They found that it will remove pesticide residue, both on the surface and, beneath the skins of apples.
Good news for me ……… we eat a lot of apples!
How To Wash Your Produce:
Mix 1 ounce of baking soda with 100 ounces of water. ( 1/8 cup baking soda to 3 quarts/12 cups water ) Soak your produce for 12-15 minutes to completely remove pesticides, rinse and pat dry.
Even soaking for just a couple of minutes in baking soda water is better than rinsing with plain water.
Obsessive? No!
Yesterday, I treated all of my recently purchased produce using this method. It really didn’t take long and, if it actually works, it’s worth it in my book!
Should you buy organic?
Organic isn’t an option for everyone but, you can choose more wisely if you are an informed consumer.
I’ve done your homework for you …………..
The Environmental Working Group compiles a list, known as The Dirty Dozen & The Clean Fifteen, every year of the most and least contaminated fruits and vegetables and I’m going to share it with you.
The EWG is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment.
The Dirty Dozen
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Peaches
- Cherries
- Pears
- Tomatoes
- Celery
- Sweet Bell peppers
- Hot peppers
If you have any room in your budget to buy organic, these are the items you want to buy.
The Clean Fifteen
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn (could be GMO)
- Pineapple
- Cabbage
- Onions
- Sweet Peas (frozen)
- Papayas (could be GMO)
- Asparagus
- Mangos
- Eggplant
- Honeydew Melon
- Kiwi
- Cantaloupe
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
Nearly all farmers use pesticides.
Even organic farmers use pesticides to fight insects, weeds and diseases but, they use products that are natural in origin and they are only allowed to use 25 synthetic pesticides. Conventional farmers are allowed to use up to 900.
Holy Moly! 900?
If that’s not a case to use the baking soda water bath, I don’t know what else is.
The take away?
Eating organically grown foods reduces your exposure to both pesticide residue and antibiotic-resistant bacteria and there’s data that supports using a baking soda water bath eliminates exposure. Try it 🙂
“Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.” – Doug Larson
xoxo, Katy