Broccoli May Not Be Good for Your Health, and Other Scary Fruit and Vegetable Facts

Could it be?  Broccoli, that source of vitamins and weight loss, on most children's nightly plates, that super cancer-fighter, could actually damage our health, instead?

 A new study has found that fruits and vegetables may not be quite as good for us as once thought.  And we're not even talking about the pesticides!  But it seems some can lead to hypothyroidism (your thyroid slows down, making you fatigued, and gain weight -- and, worst of all, not able to lose it), or harm your teeth.  Even the great new wonder of the world, kale, has come in for some abuse.

 Turns out this leafy green veggie is the one that lowers your thyroid, and so does broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables (think, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and collard greens).  All the stuff we've been told to eat if we want to live to 100, or thereabouts.

 And as for teeth? Writer Lecia Bushak says her dentist told her she'd be better off eating "chocolate and cola" rather than fresh vegetable juices and filtered water. That's because the acids in these drinks can leach the enamel off your teeth  (though mine begs to differ).

 But there's an easy answer.  Just cook it.  Don't eat it raw.  And this obvious advice: don't eat it it in tons. It's "the dose that makes it poison," one expert told Bushak.

 Now for some more depressing fruit and vegetable news.  Want to know the 12 most soaked with pesticides?

 Bushak lists them, according to Medical News Daily, as:
1.       Apples- Most health practitioners say your best apple option is organic.
2.       Strawberries- Since fungi is especially prone to strawberries they are constantly sprayed with pesticides.
3.       Grapes- Pesticide residue on grapes is still present when they are made into wine.
4.       Celery- Past EWG analyses have detected over 60 different pesticides on non-organic celery.
5.       Peaches- In past years peaches have ranked number one, given that their unique skin is a pesticide magnet.
6.       Spinach- Top pesticide-contaminated lettuce product.
7.       Sweet Bell Peppers- All colors of bell peppers, including yellow, orange and red, contain the same amount of pesticide content.
8.       Imported Nectarines-Nectarines from outside the US record higher toxicity levels than domestic grown.  
9.       Cucumbers- Wen peeling the skin of a cucumber, make sure it's completely naked or pesticides will remain.
10.   Potatoes- Potatoes are sprayed with pesticides from the moment their seeds are planted to the moment they are picked from the ground.
11.   Cherry Tomatoes- Removing the bottom leaves of a tomato plant has been suggested considering that's where fungus starts to grow.
12.   Hot Peppers- The skin of hot peppers are teeming with bacteria; however, hot pepper extract has been known to make a quality insecticide itself.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Don't Wash Your Chicken and Other Food Safety Myths

I remember when I first heard this.  Don't wash your chicken , before you cook it?  I ignored it.  But over time, I began to realize it's true.  Washing it spreads deadly (or at least sick-making) bacteria.  Really. “You should assume that if you have chicken, you have either Salmonella or Campylobacter bacteria on it, if not both,”Dr. Jennifer Quinlan, an associate professor at Drexel University, told newswise.com.  These two bacteria, she noted, are the leading causes of food-borne illness. “If you wash it, you’re more likely to spray bacteria all over the kitchen and yourself," she said. And the rinse water you've been using? It's not hot enough to kill bacteria anyway. Washing raw poultry was a common unsafe practice in all the groups she studied for a documentary on safe cooking conditions, with some minor cultural differences in the method of washing. People are very attached to the idea of washing raw poultry, she told newswise.com. “Some think...
Read more

Need the ER? Pray Your Doc Plays Video Games

We're all so used to picking on our kids for playing video games but the next time he's in the ER, you just might be happy that doctors do it, too. According to new research, video games improve doctors' recognition and triage of severe trauma patients, newswise.com reports. Playing an adventure video game featuring a fictitious, young emergency physician treating severe trauma patients was better than text-based learning at priming real doctors to quickly recognize the patients who needed higher levels of care, according to a new trial led by the  University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine .  The results held, even though doctors assigned to the game enjoyed it less than those assigned to traditional, text-based education. This indicates that if game enjoyment can be improved, the already favorable results might be enhanced, the web site notes.  “Physicians must make decisions quickly and with incomplete information. Each year, 30,000 preventable deaths...
Read more

Take Herbal Supplements? Even Green Tea Extract Can Lead to Liver Damage

Take herbal supplements? You might want to listen up. A new study is warning that new information is showing that some supplements may damage the liver, along with over the counter drugs and even those prescribed by physicians, according to newswise.com. The rate of drug-induced liver injury (DILI), a rare adverse drug reaction which is challenging to diagnose -- and which can lead to jaundice, liver failure and even death -- is increasing more and more.  Experts put it down to the overwhelming use of herbal supplements and other drugs in the last 10 years.  “A lot of consumers have a preconceived notion that if it’s a natural product, it must be safe. But that is not necessarily the case,” the Web site quotes Herbert Bonkovsky, MD, FACG, co-author of the guidelines. “Most of these products are not well-regulated and have very little oversight. Traces of heavy metals and prescription drugs have even been found in some herbal and dietary supplements. We encourage pa...
Read more