Pesticide Symptoms and Salt

[luckitri]

Been wondering if maybe because alot of what I buy is not organic - maybe pesticide residue is making me ill? (Even though I wash everything?)

Are there specific symptoms listed somewhere that I could use as a guide?

Also my co-worker said she heard to fill the sink with water and put in 1/2 to 1 whole cup of salt and soak the vegetables to clean possible bugs like ecoli as well as pesticide residue. Anyone heard of this?

I tried it the other night. After letting them soak in the salt water I rinsed them in a sink of fresh water. Still sick and trying to isolate cause.

[dreamrawalwz]

Everyone will react differnetly. Now if I don't eat organic I swell up and get an instant migrane. I think just being lethargic and feeling, well, crappy, can be something to it.

[Goldsplinter]

Eating non-organic and eating stuff cleaned from tap water my body doesn't like.

[luckitri]

You are right Goldsplinter. Today I rinsed my mouth with tap water and I actually felt the chlorine burning the inside of my mouth and the taste went up and burned inside my nose!

[luckitri]

But does anyone know the efficacy of salt in removing pesticide residue?

[rawnora]

Luckitri,
It is far more likely the excesses in your diet that are causing your problems than pesticide residues. I don't like the idea of eating pesticides either, but I recognize that even if the residues exist (it's not a given that they do, on each and every piece of conventionally grown food we eat), it represents a very small problem for the body. By contrast, eating cooked, miscombined or inappropriate foods or eating while worried or anxious, too early in the morning, too late in the evening, eating too much fat, starch or too much food overall will cause major problems in the body. If a person is symptomatic, these are the practices s/he needs to look at.

Probably half of the food I eat is non-organic because the way a food is grown is only part of what I use to select foods -- higher on my list of criteria are quality and freshness. These days I am pretty sensitive to other chemical influences like perfumes and garden insecticides so if it was possible for pesticide residues on food to cause a legitimate reaction, I would be a good candidate. But I never experience symptoms from eating non-organic food that I can't trace to a more probable cause like overeating or miscombining.

Soaking produce in salt water is unnecessary at best and harmful at worst, if some of the salt gets absorbed into the food. Did it taste salty?

Nora
www.RawSchool.com

[Raine]

I've heard that if you fill your sink up with water and add a capful of Dr. Bronner's Pure Castille Soap, that should clean the fruit. DB's is sold at most health food stores and just the small amount of soap is enough of most things left on fruits/vegs.

I use this process myself and have had no side effects.

[sport]

I use Vege Wash on non organic produce. It is sold in the US as FIT

[alex]

Your chances of getting E. coli from produce or any other harmful bug is less than being struck by lightening (except spinach now of course - but even this is pretty negligible).

I always just give everything a quick rinse.

As far as organic vs non-organic - perhaps this article will help:


When Should You Buy Organic
Free Guide Ranks Pesticide Contamination of Fruits and Vegetables
Press Release: Environmental Working Group
By
Common Dreams, Oct 3, 2006

WASHINGTON - October 4 - If you're concerned about food safety, you probably already look for organic produce at the supermarket. But if you can't always buy organic, you can still dramatically lower your family's exposure to chemical pesticides by choosing the least pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables with the Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce.

The Shopper's Guide is a handy, wallet-size card that lists the "Dirty Dozen" most contaminated fruits and vegetables, as well as the 12 most "Consistently Clean" items. It's available for free download at www.foodnews.org. The newest edition of the Guide comes in both English and Spanish versions for the first time.

The Shopper's Guide was developed by Environmental Working Group (EWG), based on the results of nearly 43,000 tests for pesticides on produce by the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration between 2000 and 2004. EWG's computer analysis found that consumers could cut their pesticide exposure by almost 90 percent by avoiding the most contaminated fruits and vegetables and eating the least contaminated instead.

Eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables will expose a person to about 15 pesticides a day, on average. Eating the 12 least contaminated will expose a person to fewer than two pesticides a day.

"Federal produce tests tell us that some fruits and vegetables are so likely to be contaminated with pesticides that you should always buy them organic," said Richard Wiles, EWG's senior vice president. "Others are so consistently clean that you can eat them with less concern. With the Shopper's Guide in your pocket, it's easy to tell which is which."

EWG's analysis of federal testing data found:

Peaches and apples topped the Dirty Dozen list. Almost 97 percent of peaches tested positive for pesticides, and almost 87 percent had two or more pesticide residues. About 92 percent of apples tested positive, and 79 percent had two or more pesticides. The rest of the Dirty Dozen include sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, pears, imported grapes, spinach, lettuce, and potatoes.

Onions, avocados, and sweet corn headed the Consistently Clean list. For all three foods, more than 90 percent of the samples tested had no detectable pesticide residues. Others on the Consistently Clean list include pineapples, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, bananas, cabbage, broccoli, and papaya.

There is growing scientific consensus that small doses of pesticides can adversely affect people, especially during vulnerable periods of fetal development and childhood when exposures can have long lasting effects. Because the toxic effects of pesticides are worrisome, not well understood, or in some cases completely unstudied, shoppers are wise to minimize exposure to pesticides whenever possible.

While washing and rinsing fresh produce can reduce levels of some pesticides, it does not eliminate them. Peeling also reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel. The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.

Although the Shopper's Guide only measures pesticide residues on produce, buying organic also makes sense if you're concerned about bacterial contamination. Organic farmers meet all the sanitation standards required of conventional growers and, on, top of that, meet tight restrictions on the use of compost and other organic material that do not apply to conventional fruit and vegetable growers.


Hope this helps


alex

[luckitri]

Nora, I really put it in the rinse water like a washing machine - lots of turbulence so I think the salt came off. I have been craving salt and bought one of those $5 mouthfuls of dulse which I ate seaweed near the sewer pipe as a baby and young child and no-one stopped me. I love dulse! Got my salt fix and the package says it has B12! Whoopee! But I am still dizzy and nauseous with headaches and trying to figure out why.

[luckitri]

Raine, I have been looking for the Doctor Bronners and cannot find. I used it years ago and found it very drying to my skin but I wanted to try it again. Thank you for the reminder.

[luckitri]

Sport - my personality and prepackaged things like veggie wash just dont mesh but maybe I will have to overcome my stubbornness and spend the $6! LOL! (I just don't trust it but will have to reread the fine print again!)

[luckitri]

Alex, you and I would have gotten along great 15 years ago when I still had a brain! LOL! This is excellent info and I am sure that many more than me will be studying it!

[sport]

Sport - my personality and prepackaged things like veggie wash just dont mesh but maybe I will have to overcome my stubbornness and spend the $6! LOL! (I just don't trust it but will have to reread the fine print again!)
You can get a concentrate or a premixed. The premixed is a waste of money

[misslinda]

Grapefruit seed extract dilluted in water is one way to wash germs.

[Raine]

In regards to Dr. Bronners -- I use the peppermint during the summer as that feels very refreshing to me and helps eliminate odors. I use almond during the winter for it's moisturizine properties. Any of the soaps should workd for cleaning fruit/vegs.