NBC conducts study relating pesticides to ADHD

There are already many good reasons to eat organic fruits and vegetables, but it seems that with each passing day the reasons get more serious, more intense and more critical to the health of our children. NBC recently conducted a study to explore the connection between pesticides and ADHD. Maryse F. Bouchard, a researcher at the University of Montreal in Quebec, led the study. She took 1,139 children ages 8-15 (selected from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) and measured the levels of six pesticide metabolites in their urine. What she found was down right frightening…

“She found that kids with a 10-fold increase in the kind of metabolites left in the body after malathion exposure were 55 percent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD.”

“The most alarming finding was a near-doubling in odds of ADHD diagnoses among kids with higher-than-average levels of the most common of the six metabolites detected. Kids with high levels of dimethyl thiophosphate were 93 percent more likely to have the disorder than children with with undetectable levels of the marker.”

Because pesticides work by interfering with the nervous systems of insects, it’s no surprise that they can have the same effect on mammals. So what does that mean? It  means we should buy organic whenever possible. There are certain fruits that seem to have much higher residues of pesticides, and therefore should be the first on your list to choose organic- those identified in the study include STRAWBERRIES, FROZEN BLUEBERRIES and CELERY.

You can also try and follow the dirty dozen list when choosing which fruits and vegetables to buy organic…”It is estimated that if a consumer avoids eating non-organically grown produce in the top 12 (”Dirty Dozen”) on this list, pesticide exposure can be reduced by up to 80%.”

The Dirty Dozen:

• Apples
• Cherries
• Grapes, imported (Chili)
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Raspberries
• Strawberries
• Bell peppers
• Celery
• Potatoes
• Spinach

The cleanest fruits and vegetables, which should be bottom of your list to buy organic are as follows: