Is it worth the extra money to buy organic foods? In this episode of Transformation TV, Dr. Axe talks about which foods you should always buy organic and why, and how to save money on your grocery bill.
Follow this list from the Environmental Working Group when you are shopping for produce:
Dirty Dozen:
- Peaches
- Apples
- Bell Peppers
- Celery
- Nectarines
- Strawberries
- Cherries
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Imported Grapes
- Carrots
- Pears
Clean Fifteen:
- Onions
- Sweet corn
- Asparagus
- Sweet peas
- Cabbage
- Eggplant
- Broccoli
- Tomatoes
- Sweet potatoes
- Avocadoes
- Pineapples
- Mangoes
- Kiwi
- Papayas
- Watermelon
- Grapefruit
Greetings, I listen to your show every Sunday and I think it is wonderful, but it really bothered me when a man called in to say how great your cook book was and that he and his wife loved the lemonaid berry smoothie, then he went on to say he could not get his sugar down, it was way up there in the 300 range. I am not a doctor, but I do know that fruits have alot of there own sugar and I was really disapointed when you didn’t inform him of that fact. He could be hurting his self just because of a wonderful fruit smootie.
Just a thought
Thanks for listening
Susan
Hi Susan,
You are correct in saying that eating too much fruit sugar will affect diabetes, but the recipe he was referring to is Strawberry Lemonade and it calls for spring water, lemon juice, 6 frozen strawberries, and stevia. If you go to http://www.nutritiondata.com and look up how many grams of sugar is in this recipe, you will see it has about 4 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fiber, and 8 total carbohydrates.
I have seen many diabetics reverse their conditions under my care and this recipe is far from the cause of his diabetes I assure you. I think stress, back surgery, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and other factors were probably a bigger reason.
I want to thank you for looking out for our listener though! :)
Great post. I would like to add a comment.
When it comes to meat and dairy, organic isn’t necessarily the best choice (although it is better than regular meat). Theoretically, organic meat means cows haven’t been eating sprayed grasses or grains, and they haven’t had insecticides used on them. The fact is many times they have. The reason is many so called “natural” pesticides have been allowed to be used in organic farming because they originated in nature(as opposed to synthetics). People assume they are safe, but the fact is some of them (not all) are toxic (which is why they work to deter pests). Now, even if none of these were used, we still have the problem created by feeding grain (mainly corn and soybeans). Even in their organic state (which means you can feed them to cattle and be certified organic), they still increase the omega 6 content and decrease the omega 3 content of the meat. It also increases the percentage of bad fats and decreases the good nutrition that should be obtained from forages. The best option is grassfed or natural beef. Many times, these farms use little or no grain, and avoid all unnecessary spraying, vaccinating, and antibiotics. Beef, lamb, and chevon (goat) can all be 100% grassfed. Chickens, Turkey,and pork do need grain since they are omnivores, but all these species still do better when green forages are added to their diet.
Amen Brandon. Thanks for all the valuable insight–all of which I completely agree with!
I agree as well but wouldn’t it be better to go vegan because I also learned that if an animal isn’t killed correctly you can get a lot of natural hormones and chemicals from just the animals fight or flight response.
First of all, excuse my ignorance. I am just trying to make sense to your video and the clean 15 and dirty dozen. How come that tomatoes are included in the clean 15 list if their skin is so thin? I am asking this question because I cook with a lot of tomatoes.It is a relief to know that I don’t have to pay the extra money going organic. Just to give you an idea, I cook once a week red rice, and I use aprox. 3 lb of tomatoes. each regular pound costs $.99, organic tomatoes cost 3.49. If I use the criteria of how thick the skin is to protect the product, shoudn’t tomatoes be included in the list dirty dozen? Did I miss something from your video?
Thank you for your patient and understanding. All these information is new for me.
Hi Abby – I would imagine that tomatoes may need less pesticides because their easy growth and high phytonutrient levels may
help keep more bugs away. As for an exact answer I don’t know. The list came from a study by the Environmental Working Group
so it should still be very accurate.