Talk Dirty DOZEN to Me

You ready to talk dirty with me? I’m talking real nasty. We’re going to talk PESTICIDES.. gross!! and hormone killers like GLYPHOSATE!.. nasty!

Let’s break it down simply. The Clean Fifteen and the Dirty Dozen are user friendly guides to cleaning up one’s grocery list and knowing when to exclusively buy organic and when it’s ok settling for non-organic fruits and veggies found at your local chain store grocer.

One of the main reasons for switching to the Dirty Dozen is avoiding the use of pesticides!

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its 2019 Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists and it left me feeling disgusted. It also reminded me that we’ve got lots of meticulous homework to do in cleaning up the foods we bring into our homes.

The 2019 report found that almost 70% of non-organic samples tested positive for at least one pesticide and in many cases there were even more.  If you don’t like kale, you’re in luck- poor kale had 18 different pesticide and pesticide breakdown residues when grown conventionally.

They found that 80% of apples in the United States have pesticides that are illegal in Europe. Yikes.

To give you just a sampling of what pesticides are capable of:  A Harvard study found that exposure to these nasty pesticides increases the chance of childhood cancer and is a huge factor in both male and female infertility!!

This is a pretty big deal as we’re finding high amounts of nasty glyphosate making an appearance in tons of everyday foods that kids and adults eat ALL THE TIME. I was especially bummed out to find a large quantity was found in Cheerios.

It reminds me of the scene in the Sixth Sense where the mom was slowly poisoning the child… It seems as though that’s what is happening to all of us. Insert sad face here.

Dirty DOZEN+1

BUY THESE ORGANIC

• Strawberries

• Spinach

• Kale

• Nectarines

• Apples

• Grapes

• Peaches

• Cherries

• Pears

• Tomatoes

• Celery

• Potatoes

• Hot peppers

IT’S OK TO BUY THESE NON ORGANIC if you must

• Avocados

• Sweet Corn

• Pineapples

• Sweet Peas Frozen

• Onions

• Papayas

• Eggplants

• Asparagus

• Kiwis

• Cabbage

• Cauliflower

• Cantaloupes

• Broccoli

• Mushrooms

• Honeydew Melons

‘Organic’ is a designation used by the Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program to certify food that was produced without synthetic chemicals or fertilizers, genetic engineering, radiation or sewage sludge. I personally wish they’d reintroduce sewage sludge back into accepted farming practices, but you can’t have everything. ;-)

EWG recommends buying organic whenever possible. Not only is reducing your exposure to pesticides a smart move for your health but buying organic also sends a message to retailers that support environmentally friendly farming practices that minimize soil erosion, safeguard workers and protect water quality and wildlife is in demand and profitable.

However, I totally get that organic is not always accessible or affordable for everyone, so I always encourage individuals make the healthiest choices given their circumstances. If that means eating a strawberry that’s not organic.. please just eat the strawberry!

In my humble opinion, the bigger problem than organic vs not, is that 50% of Americans don’t even eat enough fiber as is, and we aren’t slamming the recommended amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and minerals that are found in

yup… you guessed it — FRUIT AND VEGETABLES!!

What’s worse? Less than 10% of us are actually meeting our needs for recommended servings of vegetables and fruit.

“Eat clean and talk about dirty things”

— me

I always recommend eating fruits and vegetables, yep even if they are conventionally grown. This is a better choice than all the processed foods and toxic faux feeding options!!

There’s a GOOD, BETTER AND BEST option.. Here are my top 3 takeaways.

1. EAT MORE PRODUCE. Period. Simply choose more veggies and fruit at meals or snacks and that alone has been shown to improve health. They help you replace the other, more processed food on your plate that may not be giving you the return on your food investment that you need.

2. Think about whole foods vs. fresh foods: Whole describes the best form in which to eat fiber-filled fruit and veggies: fruit instead of fruit juice, vegetables instead of veggie chips, sweet potatoes instead of fried ones … you get the point. Frozen produce is a fabulous option plus if you’re anything like my Gut Refresh peeps then the crisper might be the place that produce goes to die… sooo finding frozen options can be a real produce life savor.

3. Pick Organic over conventional whenever you can. This means in your produce and even packaged goods. I'm talking organic gummies, ice cream, crackers and all that jazz. Keep it real, keep it clean.

‘Eat clean and talk about dirty things’ is my mantra.  We’re going to talk about bowel movements, periods and everything in-between here on Chanelle Cozette but when it comes to food. We’re keeping it CLEAN!

I just love your guts!!

Chanelle Cozette Doyle

#TheGutGirl

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Thank you for your support! Xo