What You Can Do to Reduce Your Toxic Load And Cancer Risk

Published on September 14, 2021

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):

Laboratory studies show that pesticides can cause health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, CANCER, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time.

These effects can be especially harmful to children because they weigh less and their natural detoxification mechanisms are still developing. Due to the effects that result from low levels of long-term exposure, choosing pesticide-free organic options will reduce your family’s exposure to toxic pesticides.

The Case For Organic vs. Inorganic Food

The EPA has tested and approved the use of more than 1,000 synthetic pesticides. All of which are poisonous if exposed to excess. Organically grown foods are raised without any of them. As a result, they contain significantly less pesticide than conventional foods. Even areas with limited access to truly organic foods can now benefit from online sources that offer a wide variety of toxin-free, all-natural whole foods.

Why People Are Becoming Toxic

People absorb toxins in one of three ways: inhaling, consuming and absorbing through our skin. Eating foods containing the residues of pesticides and other toxins is the most common cause of increased toxicity. Though peeling and washing your fresh produce is an intelligent practice, it will not completely rid your fruits and vegetables of pesticides. Toxins—especially pesticides—will seep into the flesh of a fruit or vegetable. Simply scrubbing the outside of a contaminated apple will not prevent toxins from entering your body.

How to Reduce Your Toxicity

A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health demonstrated that eating organic produce can significantly reduce bodily toxicity. The study provided five consecutive days’ worth of organic food to children who typically ate a non-organic, conventional diet. After just five days, almost all pesticides had disappeared from the subjects’ urine samples.

This shows there definitely is a beneficial effect of eating organic produce. - Study leader Dr. Alex Lu, associate professor of environmental exposure biology.

Breaking Down the “Dirty Dozen Plus”

Each of these foods—when conventional, not organic—made the list because test results revealed alarming levels of pesticide residue. Here is the 2021 list:

Strawberries. Ranked as the dirtiest conventionally grown fruit on the market, even when washed before eating.

Spinach. The most contaminated conventional vegetable. On average, spinach samples had 1.8 times as much pesticide residue by weight as any other crop tested by the EWG.

Kale/Collard and Mustard Greens. Produce items with the 2nd highest pesticide load. A single sample of kale, collard and mustard greens had up to 20 different pesticides.

Nectarines. More than 90 percent of samples tested positive for two or more pesticides.

Apples. Ninety-nine percent of apples contained at least one pesticide.

Grapes. There’s an average of 5 pesticides per grape.

Cherries. More than 90 percent of samples tested positive for two or more pesticides.

Peaches. Absorb high levels of pesticide residue through their thin skin.

Pears. 49 pesticides were found on pear samples.

Bell and Hot Peppers. 115 different pesticides were traced back to peppers, the highest amount of any item on EWG’s list.

Celery. Although it has slipped out of the top 10, a single sample can have up to 13 pesticides.

Tomatoes. Similar to celery, one sample also contained the residue of 13 different pesticides.

Citrus fruits made the “Plus” portion of the list because they are trending up in trace amounts of pesticide recorded. Nearly 90% of non-organic citrus contain a fungicide (imazalil) that the EWG says has been linked to cancer and hormone irregularities.