Do you know that the fruits and vegetables which we eat, all have harmful pesticides on their outer layer which gives birth to various harmful diseases like cancer. The pesticides used while growing these edible items to get rid of insects and bugs and to keep them preserved for long, is highly harmful for body and brain and does not goes off by just regular washing. Therefore it’s always advisable to soak your veggies at least for half an hour to 1 hour to get rid of any dust particles and pesticides. Though this helps in cleaning and loosening the chemicals, but is not a complete solution. You should also wash them nicely before and after soaking. Also never store your veggies without cleaning them, clean them and then store in fridge and consume them at earliest.
Here are few tips to follow….
– Make a solution of vinegar and water in 1:3 ratio, and immerse your items into this bath for 20 minutes to half an hour. Apple Cider Vinegar can also be used for this purpose. This will affect the texture and taste, but then its not a big deal if you want to eat a chemical free food. Vinegar can also be substituted with lemon. But this is not a preferred method to clean delicate fruits like berries as they have delicate skin, and too much soaking can damage their porous skin.
– A solution of salt and water is also effective. Salt helps in killing and removing the chemicals and pesticide residue.
– Clean leafy vegetables separately and do not mix it with other vegetables or fruits while cleaning, as leafy veggies have more dust particles and are more prone to small bugs and insects. Before washing, separate all the leaves and layers, now wash them and dip them into water for good half an hour. Then again wash them in running cold water.
– Have a habit of pealing the veggies and fruits before consuming them. The outer layer of these items have maximum number of chemicals and germs, so try peeling of the outer layer and then consume the items. But do not forget to first wash them before peeling.
.
Image reference: Pinterest
