Should We Eat Only Organic Fruits And Vegetables On A Raw Food Diet?

by Angelika
(Greece)

Angelikia's Question:

Hello Andrew!

Do we harm our body if we eat lots of conventional fruit?

Sometimes it is just so expensive or not bio available.

Thank you :) !

Andrew's Answer:

There's no question that chemically-laden fruits and vegetables are not doing any favors for our body. In an ideal scenario, you would want to avoid them entirely.

However, we don't live in an ideal world, and compromises may be necessary because of the higher price of organic produce, lack of availability, freshness issues, and other factors.

A good place to start would be by recognizing the most chemically-polluted types of produce and avoiding them.

Be aware that farming and pesticide-use practices differ from country to country and climate to climate, and different weather and pest-predation patterns can change how much chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides farmers use.

A good rule of thumb is that anything that is enclosed in a skin, rind, or peel which you disgard carries a much lower chemical level than those which have skins you consume. So, for instance, peaches tend to carry more than bananas.

In the US, The nonprofit Environmental Working Group scours USDA pesticide level reports to put together a yearly assessment of the most polluted fruits and vegetables. Here are the ones likely to be included in a healthy raw food diet, from most polluted to least polluted.

The Dirty List

1. Celery
   
2. Peaches
   
3. Strawberries
   
4. Apples
   
5. Domestic Blueberries
   
6. Nectarines
   
7. Sweet bell peppers
   
8. Spinach, kale and collard greens
   
9. Cherries
   
10. Imported grapes
    
11. Lettuce
    

The group also has a list of the least chemically-tainted produce. The ones likely to be included on a healthy raw food diet, from least polluted to most polluted, are:

The Clean List

1. Avocados
   
2. Sweet Corn
   
3. Pineapples
   
4. Mango
   
5. Sweet peas
   
6. Asparagus
   
7. Kiwi fruit
   
8. Cabbage
   
9. Cantaloupe
   
10. Watermelon
    
11. Grapefruit
    

Personally, I always try to get organic greens, but am less fussy about fruit, although I try my best to get organic fruit that are on the above dirty list.

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