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12 Foods With High Amounts of Pesticides

FitSugar — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0700

With all this talk about getting our daily servings of fruits and veggies, we may forget about other concerns on those foods aside from nutrients: pesticides, some of which have been classified as cancer-causing agents.

I eat a lot of fruits and veggies so I do my best to avoid pesticides but some foods have more than others, and it's hard to keep track. In an effort to make your next trip to the grocery store a little easier, here are the top twelve fruits and vegetables that contain the greatest amounts of pesticide residue:

peaches
strawberries
apples
spinach
nectarines
celery
pears
cherries
potatoes
sweet bell peppers
raspberries
grapes (imported)

Looking to get the least pesticides in your diet? Then

Not So Peachy: Pesticides and Peaches

FitSugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:45:00 -0700

One of my favorite summer fruits is the peach. When I bite into a perfectly ripe peach, I am in heaven. I just read a new report on pesticides and produce put out by the
Environmental Working Group (EWG). They listed peaches as having the highest pesticide load out of 42 fruits and vegetables they tested.

The EWG, a not-for-profit research group, ranked popular produce based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2004.

Here's the produce list that EWG created, ranked in order of greatest pesticide load to least.

1 Peaches (highest pesticide load)
2 Apples
3 Sweet Bell Peppers
4 Celery
5 Nectarines
6 Strawberries
7 Cherries
8 Pears
9 Grapes - Imported
10 Spinach

Interested in seeing the rest of the list? then

Another Reason To Eat Organic: Vitamin C

FitSugar — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 17:15:00 -0700

The belief that pesticides do not have an effect on nutrients in foods, is being seriously challenged.

Recent news from an EU funded project has found that organic fruits contained more Vitamin C than their non-organic counterparts. Specifically researchers found that organic carrots, apples and peaches contained higher levels of vitamin C and flavonoids, an antioxidant. While last week, U.S. researchers revealed that organic kiwi fruit have significantly more vitamin C and polyphenols. If you're looking to up your vitamin C intake, you may want to go organic. Still confused about what organic products are worth the extra money? Then check out this post.

Source

Valentine's Day - Give Organic Flowers

FitSugar — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:00:00 -0800

Giving flowers has become such a tradition for Valentine's Day, but just because you may be single, doesn't mean you can't take part in the fun.

I always send my best friend flowers on Valentine's Day, because let's face it, your best friend is always there for you and you do love her - isn't that what it's all about?

You can also buy yourself flowers too, but you may want to think about buying organic bouquets. Why buy Organic Flowers?

Whenever you touch or inhale the scent of your non-organic flowers, you are likely touching or inhaling poisonous chemicals. When you buy organic flowers, you won't have to worry about toxic chemicals on your flower bouquets.
Through evaporation, toxic pesticides and fertilizers that are sprayed on flower farms end up in the atmosphere. They then travel to other global areas to fall as rain or snow.
Organic flowers, according to many people, last longer than non-organic ones.

Want to hear the other reasons and find out how you can send organic flowers? Then