Living Maxwell
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Why Conventional Spinach is NOT a Smart Choice
The next time some expert tells you that the most important thing to do for your health is to consume large amounts of fruits and vegetables, regardless of whether they are organic or not, you may want to educate this person about the latest scientific research and government data.
As I wrote about the other day, a study out of Harvard found that women undergoing infertility treatment in the U.S. — and who were also consuming fruits and vegetables with high amounts of pesticide residue — were associated with a lower chance of pregnancy and a higher risk of pregnancy loss.
Men are equally as impacted by the harmful effects of pesticides.
Researchers out of Harvard said that men exposed to the highest levels of pesticide residues — through fruit and vegetable consumption — had almost 50% fewer sperm and more abnormally shaped sperm than men who consumed the least amount of pesticides.
And when it comes to which is fruit or vegetable is the most toxic, spinach is the second highest on this list, as per the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen.
According to the Environmental Working Group:
– Out of the 683 conventionally-grown spinach samples collected by the USDA in 2015, spinach contained far more pesticides by weight than all other crops tested.
– The tests detected an average of almost seven pesticides on every conventionally-grown spinach sample collected, with a maximum of 16 different pesticides or breakdown products on a single sample.
– 75% of the spinach samples contained residues of permethrin, a neurotoxic insecticide that is so toxic that it has been banned in Europe since 2000.
– DDT, a pesticide banned in the U.S. since the 1970s, also showed up on spinach.
Residues of DDT and its breakdown products were found on half of spinach samples. This is because DDT residues remain in the soil and are picked up by spinach grown today.
IN SUMMARY
According to the President’s Cancer Panel, 41% of Americans are going to get cancer and 21% of Americans are going to die from cancer.
And it is my belief that environmental factors, such as pesticides, play a very, very large role in these incredibly high cancer rates. The State of California has even said that glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world and one that is almost always sprayed on GMO crops, causes cancer.
That is why we should be buying organic as much as we can, particularly with spinach. Organic prohibits the use of super-toxic chemicals, such as the ones found on conventional foods.
Also, when you consume fruits and vegetables, even organic ones, you must use a fruit and vegetable wash.
The only one I use and recommend is from Vermont Soap Organics called Produce Magic.
Please share this post with anyone you know who is still eating conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables. It is important that they know the truth about what they are putting into their bodies.
