We all know that chemicals are bad right? Things cooked up in a chemistry lab to add to our food and water supply, just isn’t natural. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for all those chemicals, maybe. We have made great strides in medicine, I am just not really keen on the idea of having them in my food and water. And apparently there are studies to back me up on this one.

The University of California has done a few studies of organophosphate pesticides that are commonly used. They have found pregnant woman who were exposed to these. The children of these moms have a higher incident rate of ADHD. No wonder the cases of ADHD are going up. It is directly proportional to our use of pesticides on the food supply. A Harvard Study has shown that school aged children exposed to organophosphate pesticides also have a higher risk of ADHD.

Really? Does this surprise anyone?

Let’s look at this for just a moment. These chemicals are meant to kill bugs, i.e. pest, hence the term pesticide. They usually attack the nervous system and kill the bug. They are sprayed on the crops. Bugs die. End of story, right?

Wrong!

Washing your produce just isn’t enough. Just like your skin absorbs so does the skin of the plants. It is rinsed off by rain and then pulled up through the plant in the water. These chemicals get inside the plants. They don’t just magically disappear after the bugs are dead. They are in our water and our food.

They are in the water and food that we give our children. Even when we shop in the produce aisle of the grocery store we can unknowingly be giving ourselves and our children these harmful chemicals.

Somewhere along the line we need to take a stand. We need to demand more choices, more research be done on the long term effects of the chemicals they are treating our food with. I will get into the research and GMOs (genetically modified) in another post.

The short term, or long term solution is to go organic. If you can’t grow it yourself find a local source you can trust. Know more about the food that you eat. Know about the food that you are giving your children. It used to be that we knew all about our food. Where it was grown, who grew it, and how it was grown. Now we have become disassociate with the food that we eat. Become connected again. Become involved. Go Natural and get rid of the chemicals!

Sources – http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2010/08/19/pesticide/