The Dirty Dozen & The Clean Fifteen
Whether you are transitioning to a vegan/vegetarian lifestyle or just trying to incorporate more whole food plant-based produce, make sure you follow The Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) findings regarding pesticide residue.
The EWG’s mission is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. With breakthrough research and education, they drive consumer choice and civic action. They are a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, stated on their site.
So, in a nutshell, every year, they release two lists: The Dirty Dozen and The Clean Fifteen. These lists let us know which produce has the most amount of pesticide residue and the ones that have a minimal trace.
The Dirty Dozen list of produce should be bought organic. The Clean Fifteen list of produce doesn’t have to be organic when you shop but it’s better to buy organic if you can.
Why is this important?
As someone who is in the healing process from eczema, topical steroid withdrawal, years of antibiotics and a bad diet in my previous years, diet is crucial.
The foods that I currently eat are all healing me from the inside out. But when the very same foods are soaked with chemicals, my body also needs to detox. This is probably slowing down both of our healing process.
The individuals who spray the fields with pesticides are wearing hazmat suits themselves for their own protection. So imagine what happens on the inside of our bodies when we eat these pesticide soaked produce?
If you want a downloadable version of the list, head over to EWG’s site here: https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/
In the meantime, you can look at the list below that I created! Remember to print these out and stick them on your fridge!
You are what you eat
I’ve tried a lot of treatments and diets in the past, but the one thing that made the biggest difference is focusing on nutrition to heal from the inside out.
It is also very important to work with a healthcare practitioner to make sure you can adjust to this type of lifestyle and stay on track!
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If you are embarking on the eczema or topical steroid withdrawal journey and are interested in a skin health coach to support you, please contact me via Instagram and Facebook for a complimentary 30min call!