Topics:
Pesticide residues in food; contaminated fruit and vegetables;
Organic meat products versus oestrogens (female growth hormones)
Free radicals and antioxidants in fresh produce

Pesticides residues in food. Why organic food is better.

Much of the food that we eat today is routinely sprayed with pesticides, over and over again. They are sprayed to kill weeds, to destroy insects and other natural predators.

Some of the pesticide washes off into the soil, where it can remain for years, slowly draining into our water supply. Some of it is absorbed into the plants and only released when they are eaten. Most crops today contain a cocktail of residues.

Are these chemicals bad for me? Should I be worried? Yes!

Pesticides are toxic by design. They are designed to change and disrupt the normal living processes. They kill bugs, weeds, fungi, rodents and other "pests." That's why the government regulates them--though not stringently enough. The risks you encounter when you eat them depend on a number of factors including the toxicity of the pesticide, degree and form of exposure, your age, genetic susceptibility, and exposure to other toxics, including other pesticides.

Pesticides cause many adverse effects in well designed animal studies, from cancer, to nervous system damage, to reproductive effects.

There are NO long term studies on the effects of dosing human bodies with a mixture of such chemicals over 20 or more years.

Organic Food: Pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables

Adjusting your eating habits can lower your intake of pesticides -- sometimes dramatically so. Substitute organic for conventional produce that is consistently contaminated with pesticides. When organic is not available, eat fruits and vegetables with consistently low pesticide loads.

Should I stop eating certain foods?

We recommend that you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables because they're essential to a healthy diet. But you can and should cut back on pesticides--just as you might cut back on fat, calories or cholesterol.

Right now, buying organic food is the best option to reduce your intake of pesticides if (like us) you're sceptical about government and chemical company claims that pesticides are "safe." If you want to eat conventionally produced fruits and vegetables that usually have fewer pesticides, you can change your eating habits to do so.

What about washing?

Washing will not change the rank of the fruits and vegetables in the Guide. That's because nearly all of the data used to create these lists comes from the USDA Pesticide Data Program (PDP) where the foods are washed and prepared for normal consumption prior to testing for pesticides (apples are washed and cored, bananas are peeled, etc.).

While washing fresh produce may help reduce pesticide residues, it clearly does not eliminate them. Nonetheless, produce should be washed before it is eaten because washing does reduce levels of some pesticides. However, other pesticides are taken up internally into the plant, are in the fruit, and cannot be washed off. Others are formulated to bind to the surface of the crop and do not easily wash off. Peeling reduces exposures, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the peel.

The best option is to eat a varied diet, wash all produce, and choose organic when possible to reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals.

http://www.foodnews.org/reportcard.php

Reproduced from an article in Early to Rise: a free Newsletter which has a regular healthcare section. See: www.earlytorise.com

Organic meat products.

Where Did all the Little Girls Go? by Al Sears, MD

A patient recently brought her daughter to my office, concerned because the eight-year-old had started menses and developed pubic hair. Years ago, I would have put this girl through specialty referrals and extensive testing. Now, having seen it many times, I know the cause. Estrogens (female hormones) in our food had stimulated her early puberty.

Drive by any middle school in the country. Instead of training bras and boyish straight hips, you'll see shockingly mature figures on little girls.

The FDA claims it's safe to put estrogens in our food. The practice is widespread and legal. Yet how can they know that dosing us with estrogens for a lifetime is safe?

The hormones are added to commercial livestock and poultry feed because it makes them grow faster, get fatter, and retain water (which adds more weight). This translates into greater profits.

Yet overexposure to estrogen puts women at a higher risk for cancers of the breast, uterus, and ovaries later in life. While most cancers have started to decline, those continue to rise. I believe it is also the main reason 9 of 10 U.S. women (as compared to 1 of 10 Asian women) have symptoms of hot flashes, mood swings, and weight gain with menopause.

This is a problem for men too. Estrogen turns muscle into fat and gradually starts to "feminize" a man's body. This leads to fatigue, obesity, and sexual dysfunction. It also increases the risk of prostate cancer.

You can avoid estrogens in your diet by eating only organic poultry and grass-fed meats . However, you are also exposed to estrogen "mimickers" in many common household products. Tomorrow, I'll show you how and where these estrogen look-a-likes turn up in your everyday life.

[Ed. Note: Dr. Sears, a practicing physician and the author of The Doctor's Heart Cure and 12 Secrets to Virility , is a leading authority on longevity, physical fitness, and heart health.]

Source: Reproduced from Early To Rise: 11 Jul 2006 www.earlytorise.com

Fresh fruit and veg: Understanding Free Radicals and Antioxidants

What are free radicals? Why are they damaging to the human body? And how does vitamin E and the other antioxidant nutrients help protect the body against free radical damage? We'll attempt to answer these questions and help you understand why eating 5-8 servings per day of anti-oxidant rich fruits and vegetables can benefit your health. But first, a little background... Read more here: www.healthchecksystems.com/antioxid.htm

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