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All natural organic food and food supplements.
IF YOU CHOOSE MOSTLY CONVENTIONAL fruits and vegetables rather than organic, you may be putting your child at risk for serious health problems. Children who consumed conventional produce and juice had six to nine times higher levels of pesticides in their systems than children who ate organic, according to a recent study in Environmental Health Perspectives. A child's diet was considered organic if 75 percent of his servings of fruits, vegetables, and juice was organic (the study did not consider meat, grains, or dairy).
Pesticides used on conventional produce can damage the nervous and hormonal systems and the thyroid gland, according to animal studies. Children are at greatest risk because they eat more relative to their size and their bodies aren't able to filter out chemicals as easily as adults do, explains Richard Wiles, senior vice president at the Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based research and advocacy organization.
Shop Wisely for Produce.
If you could, you'd probably eat all organic all the time. You'd fill your cart with organic produce, pasta and pet foods and cram your cupboards with organic coffee and cookies. You know they're better for you, the environment and local farmers.
Problem is, all that tasty goodness comes at a price. Organic fare still costs more--sometimes a lot more--than the mainstream stuff. The good news is that with the growth of the organics industry, prices are becoming more competitive even as variety increases. In the meantime, here are some ideas for buying organic without breaking the budget.
1 seek out a store's private label for significant savings. For example, Whole Foods has about 185 items in its "365 Organic Everyday Value" line, from hearty whole grain cereals to barbecue sauce. Also explore bulk bins for organic grains, cereals, flour, dried fruit, legumes, rice and granola.
2 stick to floods in their, natural form as much as possible. "Prepared and packaged food items have the greatest markup," says Luddene Perry, author of A Field Guide to Buying Organic.
3 eat lower on the food chain. Organic beef is especially pricey, often costing several dollars more per pound than the conventional stuff. So make a little go a long way: Serve meat in soups and stews or as a side dish. "Think of meat as a condiment taking up a quarter or less of your plate, and fill the rest with grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables," says Debra Boutin, MS, RD, clinic nutrition coordinator at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health in Seattle.
4 prioritize your produce. In some cases, organic produce is definitely worth a higher price; at other times, it may be OK to save your money. "Berries tend to be high in pesticide residue, so buying organic berries is a higher priority than buying organic bananas since you don't eat the peel," Boutin says. Check with the Environmental Working Group (foodnews.org/walletguide.php) for a guide to vegetables and fruits with the highest and lowest pesticide levels.
5 try to buy straight from the source.
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