I hope you are had a great time over the holidays and that you took some time for a little (or a lot of!) self-care. I was in Toronto before heading up to Collingwood, Canada to visit with my family for the holidays. I grew up skiing in Collingwood during winters and I always love reconnecting with the outdoors there. Plus there is something special about coming in from being active outside in the cold to a fire and a glass of red wine…This week I want to start the year off with something that is simple and will make a huge impact on your health. Buying organic foods is a great way to cut down on environmental toxins that can cause a lot of problems with your hormone balance and overall health. Yes, it can be expensive if you buy ALL organic, but the best part is you don’t have to buy everything organic.If you’re thinking about buying organic, or already are you’ll love this list.The Environmental Working Group (EWG) did some really interesting research around finding out which foods have the highest level of pesticide residues. From this work, they created the “Dirty Dozen” list of foods as part of their Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. It’s a list of the 12 foods with the highest pesticide residues, which are the best ones to buy organic.The “Dirty Dozen” Top 12 Foods to Buy Organic are:
(in order of highest to lowest level of pesticide residues)
(in order of highest to lowest level of pesticide residues)
- Apples
- Celery
- Sweet Bell Peppers
- Peaches
- Strawberries
- Nectarines
- Grapes
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Blueberries – domestic
- Potatoes
If you’re like me and don’t have a photographic memory, consider doing yourself a favor and write this list down now. Or better yet, you can get the free EWG “Dirty Dozen” app and carry it with with you. I have it and use it all the time. There is one for androids and iphones.
And lastly, before you jump into everything you want to improve on, change or create NEXT year as part of the New Year, I’d love for you to celebrate and honor everything you did this past year. I invite you to take 30 seconds to a few minutes right now to jot down the top 5 things you’d like to celebrate from this past year. Even if it wasn’t one of the best years, there is always something good to find in there. Whatever comes to your mind first are the best to go with.
Congratulations on your 2012 accomplishments 🙂
All the best,
Dr. Viv