Alkaline Diet

Vegetable And Fruits Wash – How to Wash Pesticides Away?

Posted on 15. Aug, 2010 by admin in Alkaline Diet Tips, Blog

Do you know where your fruits and vegetables have been or how they were grown? Surely, if those were produced in farm covered in herbicides and pesticides used in conventional agriculture, there are still chemicals left on your food, unless you preferred organic produce for your safe consumption. Nevertheless, for consumers who are satisfied with foods produced by conventional farming, this article will provide the simplest, cheapest, and safest options to wash off all the chemicals in most fruits and vegetables since they are all covered with micro-organisms from fungi, dust, soil, and chemicals from pesticides used in farming, not to mention the number of hands who has touched it before you purchase those.

Before anything else, there are few reminders we would like you to take note before we jump to our practical tips in removing these unwanted micro-organisms and toxins. First, always keep your kitchen, refrigerator, and cookware sanitized. Second, in relation to sanitation, make it always a habit to wash your hands before preparing food. Lastly, be a smart buyer and choose healthy looking, fresh, and not over ripe fruits and vegetables.

Now, you may want to take note of the practical options you can choose from the given options on how to wash off fresh fruits and vegetables for your safety.

Option 1: This is a simple, practical and cheap recipe made by Susan Summer, well-known food scientist at Polytechnic Institute. With simple ingredients such as white vinegar, and 3% hydrogen peroxide, you can make your homemade solution. Just put the white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide in separate dark spray bottles. Make sure to clean the spray bottles before putting them. If everything is prepared, just simply spray the fruits and vegetables with vinegar, then followed by hydrogen peroxide. Lastly, rinse the produce with clean water or just wipe the surface with clean sponge.

Option 2: Another practical tip to wash off the micro-organisms on your fruits and vegetables with simple steps are as follows: in a clean basin full of cold water, add 4 tablespoons of salt and fresh lemon. Allow the fruits and vegetables soaked in the mixture for about five to ten minutes. Rinse gently the fruits and vegetables after soaking and cleansing process.

Option 3: Check if these ingredients are available in your kitchen; you will need to have vinegar, baking soda, grapefruit see extract, and 1 cup of water. Place all the mixture in a clean spray bottle and close tightly. Lastly, you may spray and leave the concoction to your fruits and vegetables for an hour, then gently rinse with clean water after.

Option 4: If you are running out of those natural ingredients in your kitchen, distilled water can be your other alternative because it has been through a process of filtering and purifying that can be best to remove the contaminant of your fruits and vegetables.

Option 5: Discarding the outer layer of fruit such as apple, the most contaminated fruit, or other salad vegetables like lettuce, are mostly done by some people after carefully washing the outer layer with distilled water.

TRIVIA: You maybe wonder why vinegar is the most common home made alternative in washing fruits and vegetables. Editors of Cooks Illustrated magazine checked the reliability of vinegar in washing off bacteria. There were four methods they used in cleaning pears and apples such as vinegar and water solution, antibacterial liquid soaps, stiff brush, and plain water. For the results, they found that vinegar solution can kill 98% of bacteria compared to any of its counterpart.

You may follow these simple guides for your safety and health purposes, or free yourself from doing all the process by including organic products to your budget list. Nevertheless, what we all wanted is to make sure that we are benefiting from the essential nutrients we can get from these fruits and vegetables, and not exposing ourselves in any potential harm from any contamination and pesticide content.

Tags: organic food, pesticides