Tempted by Summer Fruits?

Tempted by all the Summer Fruits? Then make sure you use a fruit and vegetable wash!

Some of you may have heard me bang on about this before but fruit and vegetable washes are critical for your health if you are purchasing commercial produce for your family.

With the festive season moving into full swing sometimes it can be extremely hard to balance the budget when we consider purchasing bottles of alcohol for family BBQs, gifts for our children, teachers, neighbours, colleagues and of course all your friends and family. Many of us are feeling the pinch.

Here in the Southern hemisphere beautiful summer fruits are plentiful in all produce shops and as the weeks pass, prices drop and it is tempting to buy bags and bags of stone fruit. Nectarines, peaches, mangoes, apricots – they look so good they can be hard to resist.

If you have deep concerns about the pesticides used on commercial produce or if organic produce is just not within your budget this time of year then can I suggest that you grab some Fruit and Vegetable Wash.
Truth be told we can’t always get on our hands on organic produce when we need it and sometimes we may not want too but for whatever reason if you are unable to buy organic produce the next best alternative is to wash commercial produce with a specific ‘fruit and vegetable wash’.

You can buy fruit and vegetable washes online and in health food stores. These washes remove a large percentage of the chemical residue that lies on the surface of the fruit. These washes use a combination of plant based nonionic surfactants, vegetable glycerin, potassium salts and water.
In my experience, these washes work well but with heavily waxed fruits such as apples, you will also need a fruit and vegetable cloth — which helps to physically removes excess polishes. The company ‘Enjo’, make a great cleaning cloth specifically for this task. If there have been times that I cannot source organic apples I will use a fruit and vegetable wash and I will then peel the apples as well as I just do not feel comfortable with the wax residue that may partially remain on the apple skin.

Having given lots of school talks these last few months one question that comes up a lot is, “But isn’t organic food so much more expensive?”

That’s a genuine concern for many parents and in my next post—”How to Reduce the Costs of Organic Fruit and Vegetables”—we discuss how to make purchasing organic fruit and vegetables cheaper and what are the long term benefits of prioritising organic food for our health.

When consciously trying to raise healthy children, it is important to remember that commercial crops are exposed to innumerable chemicals. When pesticides are tested for safety, each is tested individually; however, when pesticides are consumed simultaneously (e.g. in the simple act of eating a piece of fruit), any number of ‘cocktail effects’ may result. The US Environmental Agency ranks pesticide residues among the top three environmental cancer risks.¹

Did You Know?

• Pesticides that mimic the hormone oestrogen (known as EDCs) have been shown to disrupt the hormonal balance within the body. EDCs are considered one of the prime contributing factors to the escalation of hormone-related cancers such as breast, prostate, ovarian and testicular cancer.
• Another study showed men who tested with high levels of pesticides were more likely to have abnormal or diluted sperm.²
• A study performed in two identical villages in Mexico revealed how cognitive (brain) function was impaired in the village of children exposed to chemical pesticides.³

Children living in our modern world are exposed to far greater amounts of pesticides and other environmental chemicals then ever before. We honestly don’t know what the impact of such exposure may be. 
A fruit and vegetable wash is definitely a worthwhile investment in your family’s health.

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From the desk of…

Jennifer Barham-Floreani
Bach. Chiropractic, Bach. App Clinical Science
Registered internationally, no longer practicing as a chiropractor in Australia.
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