12 Foods to Buy Organic

….and 15 that aren’t worth it.

 

There’s no denying the currently occurring organic food craze. With our country’s push on healthy living, many of us strive to be as healthy as can be, and many of us believe this quest involves purchasing all natural  and organic foods, for different reasons. One of these reasons is that we wish to avoid consuming foods treated with pesticides. While consuming organic foods may decrease your consumption of pesticide residues, there is no evidence to support that eating organic decreases cancer risk. In my opinion, getting people to just consume more fruits and vegetables (organic or not) is good enough. However, for those of you who love your organic produce, here are lists of produce which are highest and lowest in pesticide residue:

Highest in Pesticide Residue– “The Dirty Dozen”
1. Cherries
2. Grapes
3. Strawberries
4. Apples
5. Celery
6. Nectarines
7. Pears
8. Spinach
9. Potatoes
10. Bell Peppers
11. Lettuce
12. Peaches

 

Lowest in pesticide reside– “The Clean 15”
1. Mangoes
2. Broccoli
3. Avocados
4. Cabbage
5. Sweet Peas (frozen)
6. Sweet Corn (frozen)
7. Onions
8. Asparagus
9. Papayas
10. Pineapple
11. Bananas
12. Kiwi
13. Eggplant
14. Watermelon
15. Sweet Potato

The purpose of this post isn’t to persuade or dissuade from buying organic; it’s to inform you!

This information was taken from the lecture on cancer in the “Nutritional Aspects of Disease” (NUTR 452) course at Penn State University, Fall 2013.