By now I’m sure you have heard that baby carrots are rinsed in chlorinated water before they are packaged and sent off to grocery stores where you then buy them and eat them and THEY WILL POISON YOU!!!
For the love of god, if you ever read anything on the internet that claims that some random food that you eat all the time will either kill you or cure you, it’s probably a lie. Not always, but most of the time it’s just a load of malarkey.
Baby carrots are, in fact, rinsed in chlorinated water. If that bothers you then you can soak them in tap water for a few minutes and rinse them off. But that probably wont help because there is chlorine in your tap water. Time to start freaking out? Please, no. Trace amount of chlorine in your water will not hurt you.
The most annoying part of the chlorinated carrots controversy (see what I did there? it’s called alliteration. boom.) is the assertion that the white coating that forms on carrots is chlorine. No, actually, its just dried carrot. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with a father who loved to grow fruits and veggies so I know what home-grown carrots look like. When they get dry, they get white. Stick them in a bowl of water and the white goes away.
Still not convinced that your baby carrots aren’t killing you? Do yourself a favor and look around at all the other things you are eating. Chances are that your alternative to carrots isn’t much healthier. So relax and enjoy- its still a healthy snack.
Why do you eat organic foods? Or, do you eat organic foods at all? A few months ago an article was published that tried to compare the nutritional value of organic foods versus conventionally grown foods (a similar article was published in 2011). Let me spare you the suspense, they didn’t find much of a difference in the vitamin and nutrient content of produce; nor did they find a difference in the protein or fat content of organic and conventional milk. But is this why we eat organic foods? I thought we were supposed to eat organic foods in order to avoid eating pesticides and because it might be nicer to the earth, not because they had more vitamins.
Organic food is big business, and is growing. Between 1997 and 2010, U.S. sales of organic foods increased from $3.6 to $26.7 billion. A food is organic when it is grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers or routine antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic livestock are fed organic feed and have access to the outdoors, direct sunlight, fresh air and freedom of movement. Organic foods are also usually processed without irradiation or chemical food additives and not grown from genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
So we don’t find a nutritional difference between organic and conventional foods. What about pesticides? The study reported that pesticides were found in 7% of organic produce and 38% of conventional produce. Great! So here is at least one reason to eat organic foods: fewer pesticides.
One would assume that, with fewer pesticides, we would have more bacteria and pests. Aside from E coli, which carries a higher risk in organic foods, the research found no difference in bacterial contamination of organic versus conventional foods. (Here is another sourcethat confirms that the pesticides aren’t even killing what they are supposed to be killing.)
Actually, pesticide use appears to increase the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria by 33-35%. Although this might not matter much because the over-use of antibiotics in humans is the major cause of antibiotic resistant infections in humans.
It’s important to know that this research, which was a review of many other articles, had some flaws. The samples of certain foods could not be standardized. For example, sampling milk that was pasteurized versus raw or collected in winter versus summer can have a significant impact on the results – and this was not standardized. Or, for example, some studies tested whole apples while others removed the peel. What we need is a long-term study of health outcomes of populations consuming mostly organic versus conventionally produced food, which would be very expensive.
Looks to me like eating organic foods might still be more beneficial than conventionally produced foods. But if you can’t afford, or don’t have access to organic foods then don’t worry too much. It’s still much healthier to eat conventionally produced food that you prepare yourself than it is to eat processed foods. Here is a downloadable list of the top foods that you should try to buy organic and top foods with the lowest pesticide count (not as important to buy the organic versions).
Do you remember James Watson, of Watson and Crick DNA fame? Well, aside from turning into a racist homophobe, he has also dedicated the later part of his life to cancer research. Just last week he published a ‘cancer manifesto‘ railing against the future of cancer research and calling in to question the therapeutic benefits of anti-oxidants, suggesting that some forms of anti-oxidants (beta-carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium) might even cause some types of cancer.
And Watson is not alone. Dr. David Agus, an oncologist who wrote a great book called The End of Illness, has been arguing against the over-use of anti-oxidants for more than a year. And here is another great resource that espouses the same message.
We are urged to eat anti-oxidant rich foods because they neutralize free radicals that can damage DNA. But is this really true? Can we prevent cancer by eating more blueberries and broccoli? Watson and Agus argue that, in fact, instead of preventing or curing cancer, anti-oxidants might raise the risk of disease or early death. That, if we overload our bodies with antioxidants, it can prevent free radicals from doing what they are supposed to do, which is to kill damaged cells and invaders like bacteria.
But, when you think about it, its not surprising that anti-oxidants don’t cure or prevent disease. Look at who is sending us this message. Its usually coming from someone trying to sell you something. “Take this pill. Eat this product. Drink this elixir.” and you, too, can live forever. Did you really think that a martini could be made healthy by adding pomegranate juice?
Living longer and healthier is only achieved with equal parts effort and luck. You have to exercise, eat healthy, don’t smoke or do drugs or drink too much alcohol. These are all difficult habits, until you relent and just start doing them until they become your normal. You should still enjoy anti-oxidant rich foods, just eat them because they taste good, not because you think they will prevent cancer.
Consumer Reports recently published a comprehensive article that finds potentially toxic levels of arsenic in rice. They are trying to push the EPA to set limits for how much arsenic can be found in rice and to set guidelines for how much arsenic a person can consume before it reaches toxic levels. I always remind myself that the EPA, while it is supposed to protect the consumer, also answers to the producers; so whatever limits they set are probably a little higher than I would feel comfortable with. As for the producers? I don’t trust them at all.
My overall recommendation, if you want to skip the rest of this, is this: limit adult consumption of rice to about half a cup of cooked rice a few days a week, limit children’s consumption of rice to less than that, and limit infant consumption of rice cereal to one serving several times a week. The recommendations that follow are from the Consumer Reports article and a list of rice products and the arsenic levels found in them can be found in the first link listed in resource (it’s the consumer reports link).
Keep in mind that I have no idea how much rice-product your infant normally eats, or how much rice you are used to eating at home. If it is going to overly burden you to find other healthy foods to eat, then just reduce your intake a little. The truth is that you can’t avoid every toxin and we don’t know that the foods you choose to substitute rice with aren’t also contaminated with something.
Sprouted Health 