Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus is credited with saying “The dose makes the poison” Latin:sola dosis facit venenum. Ancient Ayurvedic textbooks interestingly also show an in-depth exploration of Visha Chikitsa (treatment of poison). When dosed at appropriate levels, some things are powerful medicine…working with medications demonstrated that to me time and again. And then there are steady poisons that take generations to be apparent.

90,000 + chemicals are present in our lives. Many of these chemicals do not undergo rigorous safety testing over time. For example, think of Agent Orange, which had a role in my father’s death.

Thursday night, I led a discussion in CH about this. It is nuanced; however, we were lucky to have @thesmarthuman with us, who has written Non-Toxic Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World. GET THIS BOOK!

I was very irritated researching the information for this post. I started looking at the controversy surrounding the use of pesticides. As doctors, we need to support clinical inquiry that looks at all aspects of their **combined** effects, from the impact in developing brains to shifting the microbiome to conservation/sustainability to the health of those who are farming.

Each year, EWG offers their dirty dozen list (swipe right for this). “The Shopper’s Guide ranks pesticide contamination on 46 popular fruits and vegetables based on an analysis of more than 46,075 samples taken by the USDA and the FDA. Each year the USDA selects a subset of these fruits and vegetables to test, rather than testing each crop each year.

To create this guide, EWG uses data from the most recent one-to-two-year sampling period for each food.” Check out their article link in my profile. Clean Fifteen are affordable low pesticide options! Remember – the most expensive food you have is the food you throw away!

We had a great discussion with beautiful ideas for shifting meals towards organic (understanding that pesticide use is still possible under the organic label, just not to the same extent). Jump in comments to see their reflections.

Over the coming week, I’ll be sharing more about my explorations into food production.

Blog Posts with Focus On Local, Seasonal Food in Phoenix

Listed below are all recent blog entries with tutorials. These entries use the freshest of ingredients from your local farmer’s market or garden.