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I don’t know if you’re like me but if you are, you hate the hassle you have to go through to wash fruits like grapes and berries before you eat them. I’d like to just be able to grab a handful of the stuff, straight from the container and gobble them right down. But you know washing is a must, especially if you want to protect your health, because these crops have been inundated with herbicides and pesticides. In fact, even though foods like corn, wheat and soy have been previously recommended as healthy choices, today health professionals are advising against the consumption of these foods; primarily because of the dangerous carcinogenic herbicides and pesticides employed during their cultivation.
Of course blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, etc are all grown under similar conditions as the aforementioned grains, so you are likewise exposed when consuming these super fruits. However, given the net benefits of these fruits, wellness professionals continue to recommend them as part of a healthy diet, but they must be thoroughly washed prior to consumption to minimize any health risk. It is assumed that if you allow the berries and fruits to sit under running water for at least two minutes, the level of risk from the herbicides and pesticides should be minuscule.
Before I knew better, I rarely washed store-bought fruits. This is partly because where I grew up 95% of our fruits came directly from the tree, ripe and ready to be eaten and in most cases getting water was a hassle so we didn’t indulge in the habit of washing fruits. But bear in mind that these were all organic fruits that grew naturally without the aid of any artificial fertilizers or chemical sprays. So in our minds, it was quite safe to eat them without the washing preliminaries. Consequently, when I began to eat the store-bought fruits very little attention was paid to washing because it was assumed that they were ready to be eaten straight from the pack. Plus, I was not aware of the many dangers these produce harbored at that time. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of knowledge with respect to the dangers of the agricultural chemicals, many people continue to eat fruits without washing them on a daily basis.
We now know that because of the mass cultivation of many crops including berries, chemicals are pumped into the ground and into the air to help control growing conditions. Residual traces of these chemical, which are poisonous to humans if consumed in large quantities, are carried from the farms to market where they may be consumed if the produce is not washed thoroughly before consumption. To minimize your exposure, it is highly recommended that you wash fruits and berries under running water for at least two minutes. Some folks are in the habit of grabbing a handful of berries and holding their hand under the tap for a few seconds. This is not good, all you did was wakeup the chemicals. You need to get rid of them totally and this means chasing them with a steady flow of tap water for at least two to three minutes.
You need to get your full serving of antioxidant rich berries daily, but don’t cancel out the benefits by concomitantly gulping down the carcinogenic chemicals. Always wash all fruits and berries thoroughly before consumption.
That is really good to know. I always that it was necessary to purchase a fruit and vegetable cleansing product from the store. You learn something new everyday!
Hi RoCheryl, many thanks for the feedback. The cleansing products are great, but in their absence running water can do the trick. Cheers!
Wow a full two minutes? That`s probably more water than a handful of blueberries took to grow!
Better to be on the safe side Chip. You really have to get rid of the harmful stuff. But as you might rightly imagine, few people would adhere to this routine. Many thanks for the feedback.
Amazing! Great article. Blue berries are one of the best antioxidants. For blue berries and all other fruits, you can make a wash of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda to get rid of pesticides and herbicides very quickly. Either soak the fruits, or spray and let stand for a few minutes before rinsing. Very useful and it beats letting the tap run for a few minutes which is a waste of water especially in certain parts of the world where we wish to conserve.
Hey Osteosport, thanks for the read. Great suggestion especially where resources permit and as you rightly said this approach takes some pressure of our portable water supply. Cheers!
Great article Des. I always 'wash' (rinse with water) all my fruits and vegetables; however, I didn't know I had to run water over them for 2 - 3 minutes! Thank you so much for that info!
Hi Beth, thanks for the read. I guess once you're not skipping some form of washing you'll be in good shape. However, some university studies do suggest using the running water approach for 2-3 minutes. Cheers!
Yes we are all guilty of not washing fruit before we eat it. I usually wash if them if I am home, but if out I will pick up a strawberry and eat it. Most people will pick up a apple, give it a rub on their clothes and eat it. Maybe we should only eat bananas where we take the skin off of it.
Hi Elsie, thanks for reading. Great idea with eating the bananas while we are out but I think as far as apples go they are the most contaminated of all the fruits. So even though we tend to eat them on the run more so than other fruits, they are the ones that really need washing.
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