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The hardest part of being on a diet is all that salad prep! Washing and chopping and peeling–who has the time? We’re kidding (sort of), but it’s understandable why people opt for that “triple washed” lettuce variety from the produce section. It’s very appealing to be able to skip the step of washing your vegetables before eating them, but health experts warn that’s the worse thing you could be doing.
Contaminated Soil
“The scariest reason you should be triple washing your produce is because not all soil is created equal,” Jordan Hardin, founder of Jordi B Health and Fitness warns. “The health and quality of the soil can directly affect the quality of the fruit or vegetable.”
"Soil is considered unhealthy when there is a presence of harmful bacteria," she continues. Harmful bacteria that can be found in unhealthy soil can cause food borne illness, tetanus formation, or worse. Yikes!
"The fruits and vegetables we eat are affected by their environment; they are flooded with chemical fertilizers and spraying," family physician Dr. Waqas Ahmad Buttar of Sachet Infusions adds. "Washing fruits and vegetables helps prevent illness by removing residues from pesticides, dirt, fecal matter, and other unpleasant stuff."
"Washing produce prior to consumption is a necessary step to reduce pesticide content along with other unwanted pathogens and potential bugs," registered dietitian Trista Best of Balance One Supplements agrees.
So, what is the proper way to wash them? "There are many effective methods of washing fruit and vegetables to get rid of these contents; vinegar, lemon oils, warm water, and salt," Best advises.
Of the recent trend of washing produce in salt, Best advises using at least a 2% salt solution to adequately remove pesticides. The more you know!
