Just how bad are pesticides?

Last week EWG came out with their annual “dirty dozen” (and here’s a CBS segment on the subject I was interviewed for).  The dirty dozen summarizes the most highly contaminated produce and there’s also a “clean” list.  Jenn, of Peas and Crayons wrote a terrific post on the subject. I’m always curious if consumers really take action based on the results. Sometimes it seems as though there’s  the “already organic” camp who go organic to whatever extent they can afford. Then there’s the “organic schmorganic” camp (my mother is a member of) who dismiss the notion of organic is optimal. In the Venn diagram of produce purchasing the “Schmorganics” have substantial overlap with “organic = exorbitant”.  Perhaps, if we stop and think what pesticides have the potential to do to us, people would be swayed. So, just how bad are pesticides?

“Cide” means to kill. When we, or our family members, ingest pesticides we are in ingesting something designed to kill. Sure, they are designed to kill pests but you would you take a hit from an exterminator’s can? As I said to CBS, every bodily system is affected by pesticides. From cancer to Parkinson’s the research is grim. A few examples:  

Pesticides may harm your children, even if they’re not born yet

Pesticides kill insects by attacking their brains and nervous systems, it’s not surprising they affect the development of children’s brains. One study showed ADHD may be cause by damage to neurotransmitters that are affected by pesticides.

A study in the Journal Environmental Health Perspectives  also suggests pesticides may be associated with the health and development of children. “Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health have found that prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides -- widely used on food crops -- is related to lower intelligence scores at age 7.”

What made this especially concerning was that  the results were similar for the NYC children studied at Mt Sinai Medical Center as they were for the children in California living in an agricultural center in Monterey.

Pesticides can make you depressed and less fertile

Pesticides can affect your mood with studies showing depression associated with chronic pesticide exposure. Pesticides can affect those spermies and fertility. I always talk about pesticide exposure when I see clients who are TTC. 

Pesticides can make you gain weight

We think about how certain medications make us gain weight, ever think about how each of the chemicals on your produce affect you? There's an herbicide called atrazine that causes weight gain in rodents. The mice gained weight and in  particular gained visceral fat that increases risk of heart disease. Atrazine is on of the most common pesticides used on crops, particularly on sweet corn.

Purchasing certified organic ensures that no pesticides are used.  You want to eat your fruits and vegetables without a bad taste in your mouth…and those pesticides? They taste like crap too.

Are you “already organic”, “organic schmorganic or organic = exorbitant?  Do you use the dirty/clean dozen to guide your decisions? 

Recipes and Rules

While I enjoy cooking and writing, I especially love the clients who come to my little Upper West Side office. In some way, every client comes to talk about food but you can’t talk about lunch without talking about life.  One client, L, came to my office for the first time over 5 years ago. Her daughter had referred her. L was a quick study. She followed the plans we outlined but would dig her heels in where necessary. I remember some good debates “Lauren, I can lose weight without switching dried cranberries to fresh berries in my yogurt” and she did. We spent a lot of our time exchanging recipe ideas or I should say with me pulling out a notebook so that I could write down L’s recipes or tips.

We talked about cooking and children and travel and holidays. I was the  “expert” but L would give me advice on my son’s music lessons (her daughter is a musician), what to order at a particular restaurant or just about anything. L was divorced but she met someone during the time she was working with me. She was generally cool and calm but when she eventually told me about her upcoming wedding she shifted a little in her seat and couldn’t contain her joy.

I lost touch with L a bit after she was married. After all, she was lean and in love but she did bring her new beau in for a consultation one time. I was just happy to meet “Mr. L” but have a hunch her physician husband didn’t modify his eating one iota after our session. I continued to keep tabs on L through her daughter. For a while everything was smooth sailing and then L’s daughter R mentioned she was having some tests done.  It turned out L had cancer and was going to have surgery but nobody seemed overly alarmed. That was a couple of years ago. L persevered and continued to travel and live her life as though cancer or chemo was an annoying to-do list item, nothing more.

This past November, L came in to see me. The chemo she was on was taking its toll. Her energy and her appetite was low. I prepared myself knowing L might look ill or seem different but though she moved a little more slowly she was L. Like old times, we came up with a food plan this time to get her energy up as she was headed to Paris. The next day I received an email:

Lauren,

 Thank you so much for taking the time to help me with chemo eating (if there is such a category). I’ve already put some of your suggestions into practice. Also, thanks for Jen Goodman’s blog info. Looks like she’s endured far more than I have. I do hope that her treatments will work for her.

Hugs to you,

L*

I can see so much of L in that email: action oriented, selfless and warm. That November visit was the last time I saw L. It’s still so hard for me to believe I attended her funeral last month. At the service, R summoned up the type of stoic strength I associated with her mother and spoke to the congregation about “the rules according to Mom”. The rules covered things big and small after all both are important. One of the more lighthearted rules which reminded me of my time with L was:

Purchase as many specialized kitchen appliances, tools and instruments as you are able.

Your kitchen is not complete without an apple corer and a potato ricer.
One of my sons has an apple many nights as a snack, I have a hard time every time I pull out that corer. L would say my kitchen is  "not complete"; I'd love to hear her case for the ricer.

And the rule that reminded me of the rational,  realistic and sage and brave L:

When freaking out ask yourself- what’s the worst that can happen?

There’s nothing so scary that you can’t talk about it.
Through R, L’s advice, good sense and humor live on. I miss you L and R misses you too.

In honor of L: What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given? What are your favorite kitchen appliances? Do you own an apple corer? And do you have any words for R? She’s having a very tough time.