Washing fruit and vegetables is very important. However, what matters is not only whether we do it at all, but also how we do it. It turns out that many people perform this activity incorrectly and expose their bodies to harmful pesticides. We explain how to clean vegetables and fruits to make them suitable for consumption.
Washing vegetables is very important because they may contain pesticides that negatively affect our health and increase the risk of many diseases. It is true that most products have been banned in the European Union or the limits on their use have been significantly reduced in order to reduce the presence of pesticides on food, but we still have to remember that a large amount of fruit and vegetables come to us from other regions of the world.
There, conventional crops are often focused on rapid plant growth and high production, so pesticides are used during cultivation. Therefore, when buying food in a store, it may turn out that we find fruit and vegetables that contain residues of these substances.. Therefore, they should be washed thoroughly before consumption.
However, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts simply washing with water may not be enough, as most of these types of compounds are absorbed. Therefore, it will be necessary to use other methods of cleaning fruits and vegetables.
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Therefore, it is worth knowing how to wash food so as not to be afraid of pesticides. In this case, it will be necessary to use an acidic and then alkaline rinse. The first step will be to rinse the fruit for 2-3 minutes in 1 liter of water mixed with half a glass of apple cider vinegar. Alternatively, we can replace the vinegar with 2 tablespoons of citric acid.
Then, to completely remove the undesirable agents, fruit should be soaked or in a solution based on baking soda. To make it, we need to mix 1 liter of water with 1 tablespoon of baking soda. At the very end Rinse the products thoroughly under running water. This will make them safe to eat.
Another method worth mentioning is soaking fruits and vegetables for 10 minutes in a bowl of water to which half a glass of lemon juice or alternatively 3 tablespoons of sea salt is added. Some people also use a mixture of 1 cup of water, 1 cup of vinegar, 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 20 drops of grapefruit seed extract. We spray this liquid on our products and leave it for an hour, and then wash them thoroughly under running water.
