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Why Organic Food is a MUST for Men — Pesticides Have Been Linked to Lower Sperm Count and Quality

As someone who has eaten close to 100% organic since 2001, my personal experience is that women are more concerned than men about the quality of food they are putting into their bodies.

While this is based on anecdotal evidence, there are a few data points to back this up.

The Pew Research Center’s recent report called The New Food Fights: U.S. Public Divides Over Food Science concluded that women are more likely to care about GMOs than men.

According to Google Analytics, approximately 2/3rds of Living Maxwell readers – people reading about organic – are women.

So, to make a general statement that women care more about organic food than men is not exactly going out on a limb.

While many men may perceive organic food to be a nuisance or something that they don’t need to worry about, a report out of Harvard is sure to make them change their minds.

A Harvard study concluded that dietary exposure to pesticides has been linked to “a lower total sperm count and a lower percentage of morphologically normal sperm among men.”

338 semen samples were taken from 155 men, in an 18-month period from 2007 to 2012. In each sample, the concentration of sperm and level of movement were evaluated by computer-aided semen analysis (CASA). Fruits and vegetables were categorized as containing high or low-to-moderate pesticide residues based on data from the annual USDA Pesticide Data Program.

What the results showed was that the quantity of fruit and vegetable intake did not matter. What did matter was whether the fruit and vegetable intake contained high levels of pesticide residues, such as conventional strawberries, spinach and peppers.

After taking into account confounding factors, such as weight and lifestyle habits, researchers found 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.

In his conclusions, Jorge Chavarro, the study’s senior author, unsurprisingly said that “Implementing strategies specifically targeted at avoiding pesticide residues, such as consuming organically-grown produce or avoiding produce known to have large amounts of residues, may be the way to go.”

For me, it is not “may be the way to go.” Eating organic is the only way to go.

And if pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables are having this kind of impact on our sperm, imagine the harm that pesticides are causing to the rest of our body?

WHAT TO DO

If you’ve been eating non-organic food your entire life, there is no reason to panic. Based on studies, it has been proven that switching to an organic diet can reduce pesticide exposure by up to 90%.

But don’t delay in getting started with organic.

Here are some other things that may be helpful.

* To understand the priority of which organic foods should be eaten first, make sure to read my post — Should You ALWAYS Eat Organic?

* To find out which fruits and vegetables have the highest levels of pesticides, here is The Dirty Dozen.

It is important to remember that anything not on the Dirty Dozen list does not mean that conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables can be consumed. It simply means that these 12 are the most sprayed.

* If you are eating 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.

* If you are really serious about your health, it is critical that you get an air purifier for your home or office. Air pollution has been deemed to be more harmful than passive smoking.

By far, the best air purifier on the market is The Intellipure, and it is the one I run 24/7 in my apartment.

* Share this post with all of your friends and family, so they can know the truth about how harmful pesticides truly are.

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Living Maxwell

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Is Your Air Purifier Removing Dangerous Ultrafine Particles? We Test the Intellipure vs. the Molekule and the Dyson

https://youtu.be/Hk-nhPvJPzk

* Ultrafine particles are linked to serious health conditions such as lung cancer and cardiovascular disease. The EPA warns about the dangers of ultrafine particles.

* Using a Particle Counter (a Class 1 medical device), we test the Intellipure vs. the Molekule and the Intellipure vs. the Molekule. Both tests demonstrate that the Intellipure removes 100% of all ultrafine particles while the Molekule and the Dyson both fall very short of that number.

* Intellipure machines are 40x more efficient than the standard HEPA air machines.

* The patented DFS kill zone technology is proven to remove 99.99% of all harmful viruses, fungi, molds, bacteria and particles as small as .007 micron in size.

* Use the code LIVINGMAXWELL to get 10% off your Intellipure machine.

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For those of us who truly care about health, we eat organic food, we drink purified water, we exercise, we meditate, we do yoga, we have a positive attitude, we use clean personal care products and the list goes on and on and on.

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Living Maxwell

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BREAKING: Impossible Foods is “Misleading Consumers” About its GMO Protein, FDA Rejects the Claim That it is Safe for Consumption

* Impossible Foods is “misleading consumers” about the key ingredient in the Impossible Burger.

* The Company told the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that its soy leghemoglobin was  “substantially similar” to proteins consumed daily by the global population, in the form of meat and other vegetables.

However, on the Impossible Foods website, it claims that the heme in the Impossible Burger is “identical” to the heme humans have been consuming for hundreds of thousands of years in meat and other foods. 

* The FDA told Impossible Foods that its arguments “do not establish safety of SLH (soy leghemoglobin) for consumption.” The company decided to sell the Impossible Burger to the public anyway.

* Impossible Foods relied on the expert testimony of scientists who have worked for or have links to Monsanto, the Gates Foundation, Philip Morris and all of the major biotechnology companies.

* 20 minutes after eating an Impossible Burger for the first time, a man Tweeted “went into anaphylactic shock & taken to ER.”

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One of the biggest stories in the food world over the past few years has been the Impossible Burger, the plant-based burger that bleeds when you bite into it.

The goal of the Impossible Burger is to help make a dent in climate change by offering a plant-based burger that does not come from an animal. Animals require a tremendous amount of water and feed, and also produce greenhouse gases. Because the burger is made from plants, the other thing that the Impossible Burger would do is to help alleviate the killing of animals.

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Living Maxwell

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Why Organic is a MUST for Women — Pesticides Linked to Lower Chance of Pregnancy and Higher Risk of Pregnancy Loss

Each year when the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases its “Dirty Dozen”  – the 12 most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables that people should avoid – the major pesticide companies and their front groups launch a major PR campaign demanding that EWG stop publishing these annual lists, insisting that chemicals are not harmful.

The organic industry and health advocates completely scoff at these ridiculous claims. Furthermore, the State of California has declared that glyphosate, the most widely used chemical in the world and one that is routinely sprayed on our food supply, causes cancer.

And now we have a new report out of Harvard which reinforces the notion that pesticides can cause real harm, particularly for women.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink