Still recovering from the most recent UK study showing that organic food is no more nutritious than conventional, we read in the Chicago Tribune that peaches contain excessive amounts of pesticides, some above government safe levels.
It seems that peaches’ delicate constitutions, fuzzy skins and susceptibility to mold and pests cause them to both need and retain pesticides at impressive rates.
So there you go. Even if organic isn’t more nutritious, it’s probably healthier with respect to poison residues your body wont’ get. That’s not to say you should switch to consuming organic food exclusively. Peaches are an extremely sensitive crop. Not all fruits and vegetables are such pushovers.
What to do at the supermarket:
Here’s a short list of the DIRTY DOZEN fruits and vegetables that you can start with.
Those giant shiny apples and tomatoes stacked neatly at the produce stand at the supermarket are a marvel of nature. With a lot of help from man. And man’s chemicals.
In order to keep pests from blemishing your fruits and vegetables, farmers spend a fare share of their time and budget on hundreds of chemical solutions. Here are some crazy facts from a group called Pesticide Action Network:
1. 888 million lbs of pesticide are applied each year in the US – about 3 lbs per person.
2. Atrazine, a pesticide that has been banned in Europe, is found in 71% of US drinking water. It’s a hormone disruptor.
3. An average Amercian child gets over 5 “servings” of pesticide residue in their food and water, daily
4. A single strawberry can contain 22 different pesticide residues.
What you need to know:
The problem with pesticides is that they are persistent, they stay in our food even after vigorous washing. Some accumulate in our bodies over years. Not to mention the environmental impact in the soil and water sources. Or the poor farm workers who get sick after handling these toxic chemicals on a daily basis.
The folks at Pesticide Action Network have put together a searchable database where you can see which chemicals are used on which products, and the effect on our bodies. Quite scary.
The effect these residues have on fetuses, infants, and young children is much greater than on adults, so parents should be especially wary.
But please, don’t let this be your excuse not to eat fruit and vegetables! When put into the right context, it is much riskier to your health not to get the nutrients from produce than to be exposed to the pesticide residue.
What to do at the supermarket:
So what’s a worried parent to do?
Switching to organic food seems like a great solution, only it’s out of reach for most people due to the very high price of most organic vegetables, and even higher prices for organic fruit.
An approach taken by many people is selective organic consumption, choosing to go organic for the most heavily chemically drenched products, while sticking to conventional for the rest.
Here are the “dirty dozen” which are simply put, pesticide coated produce. you should buy these organic:
Salutations, today is Cinco De Mayo. Originally a Mexican holiday commemorating a great military victory 150 years ago, it has come to symbolize, especially in the US, Mexican heritage day. A very important piece of that heritage is the scrumptious Mexican food so abundant here, especially in the southwest.
Today we’ll take a look at guacamole, Aztec for “Avocado Sauce”. The classic dip is composed of very basic ingredients – ripe avocados, onions, lime / lemon juice, salt and pepper. Additions include chili, tomatoes, and herbs and spices. (see our easy recipe below).
So how different can a supermarket guac dip be from the basic configuration described above?
We were S H O C K E D when we laid eyes on Dean’s Guacamole Dip.
Very healthy! Or at least that’s what new research, sponsored by ConAgra, has shown. Here’s the press release:
ConAgra Foods announced today new research that shows people who ate Healthy Choice(R) really did get healthier. Participants in the 24-week study, on average, lost 18 pounds – all as fat – trimmed their waistlines by about three inches, and lowered their cholesterol by 12 points. Leading cardiologist Dr. James Rippe, founder and director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, led the research team that conducted the study, which was presented during the 2009 Experimental Biology Conference April 18-22 in New Orleans, La.
Excuse us while we scratch our heads. How can The Rippe Institute conduct a truly objective study when it is being heftily paid by a company with a vested interest in a specific outcome?
Reading into the study, the people eating Helthy Choice got healthier because they were forced to excercise, eat only fruits, vegetables, lean meat and dairy, and whole grains. Oh, and one Healthy Choice meal once a day. How can the weight loss be attributed specifically to the frozen meal?
This press release is part of a huge rebranding of the Healthy Choice empire, including the introduction of new products, reformulation of some existing lines, and new packaging. ConAgra is estimated to be spending close to $100 million on this effort, including National TV Ads starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus and web activities.
What you need to know:
While frozen dinners have made some headway over the past few years in terms of nutritional content, they still lag far behind home made food on several fronts:
1. high levels of salt – in the clip above, Julia Louis Dreyfus is stuffing herself silly with Sweet Asian Potstickers containing 600mg of sodium. That’s a quarter of the daily maximum value.
2. high levels of sugar – 19 grams or 4 teaspoonfuls. Hey, is this dessert?
3. too many ingredients* – here’s what’s inside the Sweet Asian Potstickers:
To be fair, most of the list above is actually understandable, and there are no freaky additives or preservatives in this dish. So when the food scientists want to, they can dish out healthy fare…
* We could not find the ingredient information on the Healthy Choice website. The customer support group did reply promptly to our email, though.
What to do at the supermarket:
If you really really can’t prepare your own food, and must grab something from the Frozen Dinner Aisle, take a look at health brands such as Healthy Choice and Lean Cuisine first. The brand does not automatically promise you’ll get a nutritious dish, but it improves the chances.
Proceed to check the ingredient list, scanning for unpronounceable chemicals, and then look at the sodium count. It should be in the neighborhood of 400-500mg or less. The sugar count should be lower than 12 grams. Usually the calorie count will be decent, because manufacturers know that’s the only number most people look at.
Last week, Campbell Soup Company reintroduced 12 of its popular canned soups for children, reformulated to be considered healthy by FDA standards:
…12 Campbell’s® Kids soups, reformulated to contain 480 milligrams of sodium per serving.
Now popular favorites [...] meet the government criteria for “healthy” foods – controlled for fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and being a good source of a positive nutrient like vitamin A.
The newly-reformulated soups are the latest to come to market as part of Campbell’s ongoing commitment to wellness, for a total of 78 soups in the portfolio at the healthy levels for sodium. By leveraging a combination of unique, lower sodium natural sea salt and expertise in flavor design, Campbell has been able to deliver lower sodium options without sacrificing taste.
For years, using salt was a cheap and easy way for manufacturers to mask the canned flavor of commercial soups. However, due to high levels of consumption, salt is now recognized as a serious threat to public health. Americans consume almost twice the recommended daily allowance of 2400mg (a teaspoon) a day. This leads to high blood pressure and related ailments.
Reducing salt is a good move by Campbell’s, in line with its strategy to refurbish a tarnished image of canned soup as a mega warehouse for MSG and sodium.
Taking for example, the Disney Princess Pasta Shapes soup, Campbell’s has reduced sodium from 580mg to 480mg per serving, and eliminated monosodium glutamate completely.
However, the bit aboutunique, lower sodium natural sea saltis marketing hype. There is no nutritional difference between sea salt and regular salt (derived from rock salt mineral deposits). True, the flavor may slightly differ when shaken on to food, due to tiny amounts of additional minerals found in sea salt. But the amount of sodium is the same.
Also in the reformulation, the calorie count actually went up from 70 to 80 calories per serving, but this is negligible.
What to do at the supermarket:
Thinking about making your own soup but afraid to try? Soup is actually one of the easiest foods to prepare because it is very tolerant to mistakes by beginners. Scoot on over to the produce section and get some carrots, celery, pumpkin, zucchini, and onions. At home, wash, peel, dice, and throw into a pot of boiling water. Let cook for a few hours, add pepper and salt, and your soup is ready. Much tastier than canned soup, and guaranteed to contain less sodium.
OK, this week you don’t have time. In this case, look for soups with a reduced sodium level, preferably 480mg or less per serving.
According to the US Dietary Guidelines, we’re supposed to get 5 servings of vegetables a day, but most of us fall short. A new study presented this weekend at the annual ADA convention has found a solution. Drink your veggies:
University of California-Davis researchers say drinking vegetable juice is an effective way to help people increase their vegetable intake.
Study author Carl Keen says seven out of 10 adults fall short of the daily vegetable intake recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. The researchers studied whether drinking vegetable juice could be a simple behavior change to help boost the intake of vegetables to “strive for five,” or eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
There’s great variation in the nutritional content of vegetables. Most contain small amounts of fat and protein, and large amounts of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. The variation is important, as each color represents different nutrients found in the plant. Here’s a brief color code breakdown:
Red – tomatoes (especially cooked) – lycopene. Protection from prostate cancer as well as heart and lung disease.
Purple – beets, eggplant, red cabbage, red peppers – anthocyanins – good for the heart.
When buying vegetable juice, look at the label to see what you’re getting. An 8oz serving of V8 is loaded with salt (480mg / 20% of recommended daily intake). The low sodium version has less than a third of that amount.
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Healthify your supermarket choices.
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