Thursday, February 10, 2011

How to avoid Pesticides? Part 2


Courtesy image - http://bit.ly/dTKNeV

The Poisons in your Produce is causing so much of damage to your health, wealth and peace of mind. The hospitals and clinics are loaded with distraught anxious patients. Why?

Our soils are deficient in micro-nutrients such as the vital trace minerals like zinc, copper, iron, manganese, magnesium, boron, selenium and chromium which control the vital aspects of plant growth. Proper genetic expression cannot happen if there is a deficiency or toxicity of a mineral.

The corrosive intensive agriculture mal-practices are reasons for this deficiency. The vegetables and fruits hence produced are devoid of the micro-nutrients that are mentioned above.

So what you are currently consuming and allowing yourself to be consumed is by toxic shallow foods, devoid of any nutrients. The human body is so designed that should any one of these vital trace minerals be missing from your diet, disease is bound to occur. Hope this explains, why we need to raise our voices in unison against the pesticide lobby and policy makers and demand our fundamental right to safe food.

Yes, not every body can afford to buy organic nor become a gardener. But as I mentioned previously, do not separate medical costs from food costs. These two are closely linked.

Do what you can to safeguard your diets. Hope these hints are useful to help reduce your pesticide consumption.

• If you can follow the wise adage " Eat seasonal only" and keep a check on your taste buds, you are less likely to fall ill. Use the locally-grown fruits and vegetables only. What served our ancestors holds good for us. For instance, you eat cauliflower in summer, when the season grown is in winter, then you are asking for trouble.
• Wash your vegetables and fruits like you wash your hands. Pesticides do not come off in water as they are highly insoluble and stick to fatty tissues and resist metabolism. If they did, farmers would have to apply them after each rain or heavy dew.
• Wash fruits & vegetables in khadi soap solution. Recall the good old khadi soap bar 555? Dissolve this bar in warm water. And keep the soap solution in a bottle, Use when needed. You may use detergent which is chemical based, but the safer option is use khadi soap. Soak and rinse vegetables/fruits in this soap solution prior to cooking or eating.
• Alternatively soak them in vinegar over night and then rinse with soap solution.
• Lethal doses of pesticides are in grapes, where testing shows can harbor as many as 34 different pesticides. View this link - http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/eat-safe/Dirty-Dozen-Foods#ixzz1ABBvWXVW
• Avoid grapes if you can. I have done so for the past 10 years as I do not require pesticides in my gut nor visits to hospitals! Fortunately, when farmers grow organic grapes, I get to indulge in them and it is worth the price of safety.
• An option for grape lovers. Take a big bunch of red or green grapes. You will notice they are laced in a white powder. Place them in a large bowl or pan of water with khadi soap solution. Swish the grapes around for a minute. Carefully watch the water. You will see evidence that this soap solution works. Seeing is believing.
• It is necessary to rinse soap-washed fruits before eating, It is hardly a burden. Rinse until the water is clear.
• When you handle the soap based or detergent washed fruit, you will also notice that it feels different, too. We are so used to fruit with chemical laden coatings on it that when we touch cleansed fruit, it's a new tactile experience. Go ahead, try it.
• Please note - newly detergent-washed fruit does not keep very well. The former petrochemical coating may serve as a moisture barrier and even an oxidation barrier. So wash only before you eat.
• Vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes are reeking with massive amount of pesticides and fungicides. If you must eat a cauliflower then pick one which has the most amount of worms, if the worms can survive, so can you!
• Another cheapskate hint: save those fungicide laden potatoes that are "no good" and have turned green with sprouted "eyes." Don't throw them away; plant them. The "eyes" are indeed sprouts, each of which will grow into an entire potato plant bearing several or even many more spuds. Cut the potato and plant each piece with an eye on it. No pesticides required in your pot and you can relish your potatoes too.

Fruit alert
Whether you shop be it from a cart or a super market shelf for fruits like mangoes, papayas, bananas, lime that have been chemically ripened. Notice the erratic hives of green spots with uneven tinges of green, yellow, orange. When you cut them to eat, you wonder why there is little taste and no flavour.
Be an observer and stay alert whilst purchasing something that has helped me;
• To identify a natural ripened fruit, watch out for an even gradation of warm colours. From a natural green, the fruit turns a natural smooth hue of yellow then orange. These fruits tastes smells yum and most sweet.
• Many fruits and vegetables are not merely sprayed but are waxed as well. So-called "food grade" waxes improve shelf life, appearance, and coat over and lock in any previously applied pesticides. This poses a problem, for waxes do not readily dissolve in detergent solution. Frequently waxed fruits include apples, pears, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, and even tomatoes are generally waxed. The lack of a high gloss is not proof positive that a fruit is unwaxed: many waxes, like many types of floor polyurethane or spray varnish, are not at all shiny. One way to tell if a fruit or vegetable is waxed is to run your fingernail over it and see if you can scrape anything off.
• The other alternative is to simply peel them. Do not eat apples or pears without peeling the skin. The nutrition that once was, is now laden with chemicals. So force feeding children to eat the skin of an apple is not advisable.

Only from healthy soils will healthy plants grow.
Wake up. Take charge. We are what we eat.

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