Pesticides can have a harmful effect on water supplies and farm animals

Are they Finding their Way into Your Diet?

Organic! Organic! Organic! Does it seem like everywhere you look you see the word organic? Whether it’s in a health food store, a restaurant, or even your local grocery store organic foods are all the rage. They are being sold practically everywhere and you can find everything from organic fruits and vegetables to organic flour, and even organic meats!

Many claim that eating organic products means avoiding overly processed foods, thereby cutting hydrogenated oils, trans-fats, preservatives and other negative ingredients out of your diet. But lately the debate over fruits and vegetables seems to be taking center stage. The pesticides used on foods are currently a big concern for the health community, due to their many acute and chronic effects.

The basis of this debate lies in the method by which foods are grown. To put it simply, organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides, and only with naturally occurring organic fertilizers.

There are many reasons that foods are grown in this method. Some feel organic farming encourages better soil for future growing seasons, and others cite that pesticides can have a harmful effect on water supplies and farm animals. But from a health standpoint the debate takes a different turn.

While many people are proud of buying organic food to support more environmentally sustainable growing methods, other want to know: Does eating organic fruits and vegetables mean you are making a better health decision for yourself and your body?

It seems that more and more evidence is being uncovered that suggests the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes’. The problem with many fruits and vegetables grown using synthetic pesticides these days is that very little is done to rid the foods of the chemicals in the pesticides.

Washing fruit and vegetables thoroughly before consuming them has always been advocated by authorities on the subject, but the Environmental Working Group reminds consumers that even a thorough cleaning does not effectively remove all of the chemicals left behind.

“While washing fresh produce may help reduce pesticide residues, it clearly does not eliminate them,” says EVG. “Nonetheless, produce should be washed before it is eaten because washing does reduce levels of some pesticides. However, other pesticides are taken up internally in the plant, are in the fruit, and cannot be washed off…”

Synthetic pesticides, in essence, are toxins and consuming foods that have been subject to pesticide spraying means that you’re consuming those toxins. Nowadays, pesticides are suspected to have negative effects on development and neurological systems. In fact, the EPA recently undertook to begin a study on the effects of 73 of the most common pesticides on the endocrine system, which includes the pancreas, adrenal gland and the pituitary gland.

While eating one apple grown in pesticides may not cause your health to go suddenly downhill, the prolonged exposure and consumption over an extended period of time is of great concern to scientists. So, the potential positive impact on your endocrine system that eating organic foods can have on your health is quite significant.