Re: grape juice/pesticides

[Guest guest]

I get my vegetables and some other stuff from " whole foods market " . the

place is a dream for anyone with CFIDS and especially thise with chemical

sensitivities. I think its a nation wide chain. I've found they charge less

than normal super markets and the vegies are organic and so much better.

they actually look brighter, taste fresher, etc.

[Guest guest]

I have read the same thing.

While the lower on the food chain you eat, the less pesticide residues

you will be exposed to

(because they persist over time and if you eat an animal, for instance, you

are eating much of the pesticides it ever ate. Particularly a problem for

factory farmed animals, whose food is often liberally treated with pesticides

because the enormous over-crowding of these animals invites insect problems,

among other things),

peanuts and raisins are two items in the vegetable kingdom that get hit

particularly hard with pesticides. Other produce to try to get organic are:

apples, spinach and strawberries. Bananas on the other hand are frequently

found to have no pesticide residues at all.

But, even the worst offenders of produce grains, pale very, very much in

comparison to what is found in flesh foods (except fish). The USDA Total

Diet Study looked at pesticide residues on produce, grains, meat from 4

regions of the U.S. (East, West, Midwest and South, I believe were the

regions). They looked at quite a few different samples from each area. They

considered how many different kinds of pesticide were present, and in what

amounts. The amount found in meats was staggering. Pesticides tend to be

lipophilic, and therefore the fattier the meat you eat, the worse, but even

the most lean meats were unbelievable in terms of number of pesticides and

amount of pesticide.

They did not look at meat from free-ranged or organically produced

animals. I know that these farms usually tout that there animals were fed

pesticide and antibiotic free food, so I would assume that this would make a

big difference.

Just to repeat, most grains, fruits and veggies by comparison have

vastly less pesticide residues than meat, so even with peanuts and raisins, I

wouldn't stress it too much if you cannot afford the organic variety.