My grandmother always said that the day would come when I’d wholly appreciate the life I lived with her in the Trinidad & Tobago countryside. That day came a long time ago. Back then, the beach was my playground, climbing trees and scaling down trunks were my version of slides, the ocean was my swimming pool, the river was my tap water, and my plate was filled with foods from clean, pesticide-free soil and environment. Oh, how I which I had it all at my disposal, now. Grannie knew what she was talking about.
Hence, it’s really bittersweet to write articles like these. Though I’m thrilled to be able to seek out and find life enhancing information for myself and to bring to you. Conversely, I’m sickened that issues like, yucky pesticides in our foods is even a reality.
Rightly so, there are growing concerns in our communities that even small amounts of pesticides found in our foods can cause adverse effects to our health, and especially to the health of children and the developing fetus.
Why Are Pesticides Bad?
Pesticides are toxicants; poisons that are used to kill living things like bugs, weeds, and other undesirable organic matter. And, they are found everywhere in our environment. But what’s even more alarming is that residues are also found on some of our favorite foods. Once they enter the body, the pesticides are stored in the colon and there it slowly diffuses to other parts of the body. The result of years of studies and testing has shown that the use of toxicants have been linked to ailments such as,
ADHD
Alzheimers
Birth Defects
Cancers including, Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Breast, Liver, Lung
They are also considered endocrine system disruptors, which means they can cause hormone imbalances (one of my issues), infertility, and birth defects.
How Can You Protect Yourself From The Effects Of Pesticides In Food?
Eating clean organic foods is the surest way to protect you and your family from the adverse effects of pesticides found in foods. You can check out this post, that features the Dirty Dozen foods, which should always be bought organic and The Clean Fifteen foods, which doesn’t have to be organic.
Information is a gateway to success, in this case, success to a healthier and safer lifestyle. The more you know, the more you’re able to do. Now it’s up to you.
I highly recommend viewing the following video by EWG (The Environmental Working Group).
EWG’s 2014 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™
Dixie Lincoln- Nichols is a biological science educator, health and wellbeing consultant and Qigong instructor. Her work has been featured in media outlets like, Oprah Mag, SELF, Yahoo and more. She is the founder of Inside Outer Beauty Market, a multi-cultutal retailer curating and creating products to support the body inside and out. Visit the site at www.iobeautymarket.com
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