Eat Well And Beware The Dirty Dozen

Summer is a great time to have all the fruit and veggies you want, right? Well turns out eating healthy might take just a little more effort,...but not much. The next time you buy produce at the store or farmers market, take note. If you choose apples, you’ll want to make sure and wash them before you eat them. Apples are the dirties produce out there. 99 percent of apples that were checked had some sort of pesticide residue on them.

According to Mind Body Green, Apples top the "Dirty Dozen" produce list, followed by strawberries, grapes, celery and peaches rounding out the five. Something to remember, clean produce is something that has some sort of skin on it. Avocados are the cleanest, followed by corn, pineapple and frozen sweet peas.

Good news is there is a way to clean all fruits and veggies that disinfects them and removes a large amount of pesticides. A sit called Premeditated Leftover give this DIY recipe for fruit and veggie wash.

Homemade Organic Fruit and Vegetable Wash

Supplies needed:

1 organic lemon, medium sized
Organic White vinegar
Water
Spray bottle (BPA-Free)

Directions:

1. Begin by cleaning the spray bottle well with warm water. Set aside.
2. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze as much of the juice out as you can.
3. Take three tablespoons of white vinegar and pour it into the bottle.
4. Add one cup of water and shake the bottle well to mix.
5. Add the lemon juice and give one final shake.

The lemons and vinegar will clean as well as disinfect your produce. To use, simply spray it on your produce (while the peels and skins are still on) and then rinse and wipe clean. You don’t need to use a lot of this product, just a simple misting on each produce item will do.

Here are the full lists of you biggest offenders:

The fruits and veggies with the most pesticides are: