Fruits & Vegetables - The Effects of Pesticide
Health Benefits of Fruits & Vegetables
People who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Fruits provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.
Fruits provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body and Vegetables are important part of healthy eating and provide a source of many nutrients, including potassium, fiber, folate (folic acid) and vitamins A, E and C. Options like broccoli, spinach, tomatoes and garlic provide additional benefits, making them a superfood!
Potassium may help to maintain healthy blood pressure. Dietary fiber from vegetables helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and may lower risk of heart disease
But do you know that the use of pesticides is a standard practice in the agricultural production of food products? Pesticides protect yields by limiting losses due to, competition with other weeds and from attack by insects or plant diseases etc. These chemicals have played a central role in the improved yields and the quality of the products that we seen over the last decades.
The Effects of Pesticide on Children
According to studies and researches, pesticides have grave effects on children and these can be measured in several ways. Children’s internal organs are still developing and maturing, so the effects can be seen and measured at present and in the future when they have grown up.
The immediate effect is the blockage of important food nutrients for normal and healthy growth among children. When the excretory system of the child is not fully developed and yet he or she consumes fruits or vegetables with pesticides, his or her body may not be able to totally get rid of the pesticides.
Effects of Pesticides on Adults
When a pregnant woman eats vegetables contaminated with pesticides, the fetus can be exposed to the harmful chemical and cause birth defects. Pesticides can also be neurotoxins which can make a person feel light-headed, dizzy and confused, and it may reduce body coordination and ability to think in the short run. In the longterm, these can result in reduced IQ and learning capacities and in the worst case, can lead to permanent brain damage.
Effects of pesticides on fruits and vegetables
Farmers of the olden days relied on the use of organic farming techniques and methods in cultivating their crops. Natural methods such as crop rotation, companion planting and the use of compost were all employed to ensure a bountiful and safe harvest. As commercial farming slowly gained popularity over organic farming, the natural methods were replaced with the ones using chemicals for fertilizers, pesticides and weed killers.
The promise of higher yield in a shorter period of time is the selling point of these chemicals. But heavy reliance on chemicals is starting to take its toll on the vast farmlands and on the people’s health Fruits and Vegetables are highly nutritious and form as key food commodity in the human consumption. They are highly perishable due to their low shelf life. These food commodities are reported to be contaminated with toxic and health hazardous chemicals.
