By: Dr. Michelle Irwin

When it comes to healthy weight, whether we need to lose weight or keep a healthy physic, our diet will make or break our goals.

When eating healthy, we also need to think about eating clean. It can be confusing as to why you may be putting on weight or feeling crummy even when eating good vegetables and meats. This can be due to toxicity found in your foods because of high amounts of pesticides used in and around the area they are being produced.

Luckily there is an independent organization that works to stay on top of the cleanest and the dirtiest foods out there so we can know what needs to be solely bought organic and those that are okay to go with what is available.

The Environmental Working Group is this organization and every year they release a new list of the Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen foods and they just released the 2022 list in May!

The Clean 15 are the top 15 foods that when tested, have the least number of toxins and are okay to buy non-organic.

On the other hand, the Dirty Dozen are foods that should be bought only organic due to the high number of toxic residues and pesticides found through their rigorous testing.

When our body is having to deal with these toxins in our food, it can interfere with our metabolism and use of the nutrients leading to weight gain along with other health issues.

Here is the list of the Dirty Dozen and the Clean 15 as well as the way the top 47 vegetables fall on the list. I hope this helps and maybe even gives you some ideas for healthy meals.

Dirty Dozen: Important to buy organic

1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale, collard and mustard greens
4. Apples
5. Nectarines
6. Grapes
7. Bell and hot peppers
8. Cherries
9. Peaches
10. Celery
11. Tomatoes
12. Pears

Clean 15: okay to buy non-organic

1. Sweet potatoes
2. Watermelon
3. Mangoes
4. Cantaloupe
5. Mushrooms
6. Cabbage
7. Kiwi
8. Honeydew melon
9. Papaya
10. Onions
11. Pineapple
12. Avocados
13. Sweet corn
14. Sweet peas (frozen)

The Inbetweeners: Foods with over 4 pesticides/toxins. Recommended to buy organic.

1. Potatoes
2. Eggplant
3. Blueberries
4. Raspberries
5. Cherry tomatoes
6. Summer squash
7. Winter squash
8. Grapefruit
9. Lettuce
10. Snap peas
11. Cucumbers
12. Oranges
13. Tangerines
14. Carrots
15. Green beans
16. Bananas
17. Plums
18. Cauliflower
19. Broccoli

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