“Virtually all the research on how healthful fruits and vegetables are for reducing health risks was done using conventional produce,” he continued. “People are at a far greater risk by avoiding fruits and vegetables just because they cannot afford organic.”
Furthermore, Dr. Ayoob explains that, “Organic doesn’t mean pesticide-free. There are dozens of pesticides that are allowed on organic produce. Additionally, if an organic farmer has a particularly difficult pest to eradicate, and it doesn’t respond to typical organic pesticides, the farmer is allowed — by law and under certain circumstances — to use synthetics.”
The bottom line? “I’d never encourage my patients to eat anything unsafe or anything I wouldn’t eat myself. I eat conventional produce (and far more than most people!) and sometimes I eat organic if it’s around and reasonable. But I would never avoid eating a fruit or vegetable just because organic isn’t accessible,” he said. “There’s a real trend happening that’s disturbing: the constant repeating of something so often in the culture that it becomes an accepted fact, although it isn’t.”
In other words, don’t let a good headline scare you off of essential foods needed to maintain a healthy, balanced diet.