What I am going to do is highlight a little bit of the other side of the story that Stanford conveniently left out. You know, the big glaringly obvious PESTICIDES piece.

crap-duster

Here’s the deal. There are over 800 MILLION pounds and around 17,000 different kinds of pesticides used in the US each year – this includes insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. About 20% of these 17,000 are what are known as “systemic pesticides” which means that they make their way into the plant via the roots, so no amount of washing or peeling will remove them. They’re inside.

One of the most commonly used classes of pesticides is called “Organophosphates”. These super baddies were originally developed as nerve-gas agents for chemical warfare (great), and they work by paralyzing muscles and disabling the central nervous system of exposed creatures. Organophosphates are used to treat food crops like apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, peas, spinach, corn, and citrus crops. Exposure to these types of pesticides are linked to everything from learning and memory problems, depression, liver damage, and worse, brain tumors, leukemia, lymphomas, and increases in birth defects.

A recent study published in the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology of one particular organophosphate called chlorpyrifos, found that boys exposed to this pesticide in utero showed a decrease in IQ. This mirrors other studies that have found significant IQ drops in children exposed in utero, as well as abnormalities in part of the brain associated with memory. It’s pretty well established that chlorpyrifos is a developmental neurotoxin with the potential to impact behavior, aggression, social skills, ADHD and other issues that are rampant in kids these days.

Not a baby? Okay, fine, but organophosphates are also “obesogens”- chemicals that have been linked to metabolic disorders that can result in overweight, obesity, and diabetes. (If you didn’t already listen to my free training call Chemicals Not Calories – Uncovering Obesogens, you should do that now)

The bottom line? For me it’s not about nutrients. It’s about avoiding neurotoxic, carcinogenic, hormone disrupting, and developmental and reproductive toxins in the food I eat every day. Funny thing is, even though the media spun the Stanford study to be all about the nutrients (since that was the focus after all), turns out the study just reinforced what I already knew: the consumption of organic foods reduces exposure to pesticide residues (by their calculation, by 30%, although many argue those numbers are whack, and that’s it’s significantly higher.).

Where do you stand – and how well are you able to have the “organics” conversation with your clients?

Yay, America! We’re the fattest!
credit: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Ok. I’m going to just say it. I’m probably going to offend a few people, but that’s not my intention. Here goes: We’re FAT. In fact, we’re super fat, and it’s not okay.

Over the past 50 or so years, obesity – that ever popular killer – has risen from 13% of the US population, up to 35%. That’s massive. That is a MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. Good old America has some of the highest rates of obesity in the entire world. Yay for the land of plenty (note heavy sarcasm here). Medical costs associated with obesity were estimated to be around $147 Billion in 2008. And those stats are just for people who qualify as obese. There are plenty more people who are technically “overweight”.

How did we end up this way? Our instinct is to search for a smoking gun…the one thing that caused us to become overweight. How many times have you heard this: “If I just ___________, I’ll be able to lose weight!” That blank could be “eat less”, “exercise more”, “watch my calories” “manage my stress”. But when it comes to our health, there very rarely is a smoking gun – it’s not often that one single thing is the cause of any health condition. It’s all part of a cascade of events that sets things in motion allowing our health to weaken. So what cascade caused us to claim the title of fattest country in the world???

During the past half a century, three big things happened that shifted the way we live, each one of them playing a role in our expanding waistlines.

1.) Industrial Revolution Reinvents The Work Day
Okay, so this one goes back further than 50 years – but you catch my drift. Over time, our workday became less physical and more automated. We became desk sitters (she writes while sitting at her desk). We have more “things to do” and less time to play. Less time to play (i.e., sports) equals less physical activity, coupled with aforementioned desksitting equals a bigger
bottom.

2.) Industrialization Of Food
Cue 4,859,289,018,993 (totally made up number) extra, and often empty calories that our bodies don’t know what to do with. And we love industrial food because our longer workdays, busy lives, and money spending means we don’t have time for real food anymore. We are lulled by convenience. Fast forward 40-50 years, and you can walk into a bookstore, hardware store, or drug store and buy food (remember the days when you couldn’t even bring food or drinks into a bookstore!?). If you live in a city, you likely can’t walk half a block without there being immediate access to something to eat. And this super processed food leaves your body in a state of total havoc – it can’t figure out how to digest, process, assimilate, break down,
utilize most of what we’re eating.

3.) Chemicals In Commerce
Over the past 50 years, over 84,000 synthetic chemicals have been introduced in the US. That’s a lot. ALMOST NONE OF THESE HAVE BEEN TESTED FOR SAFETY. There are hundreds of chemicals that you encounter every single day. Turns out that a bunch of these chemicals have their role in making and keeping us fat. Yikes.

Most people feel like they’ve got a pretty clear understanding of Big Thing One and Big Thing Two, but the vast majority of people aren’t aware of Big Thing Three – Chemicals.

As health coaches, you’re on the front line of this epidemic of overweight and obesity. Regardless of what type of client you work with – whether it’s someone who’s looking to balance their thyroid, to manage their stress, to tackle emotional eating, or to get pregnant – losing weight will surely come up. In talking to probably a hundred health coaches, I don’t think I’ve met one who didn’t have clients coming to them wanting to lose weight. It may not be their primary reason for seeking you out, but it’s there. The “Well…it would be nice. Not a huge deal, it’s more important that I balance my thyroid, but if I lose a few pounds in the process, I’d be sooo happy!” types.

So, you’ll help them with Big Thing One (physical activity) and Big Thing Two (eating amazing, healing, health-supportive whole foods) and you’ll likely help them with other things like self-care, spirituality, connection, relationships, etc., all good and juicy stuff.

But you can’t turn your back on Big Thing Three (chemicals). An entire class of chemicals is now being implicated in the incidence of overweight and obesity.

Join me on Thursday, August 30th at 5pm PST / 8pm EST for Chemicals Not Calories: Uncovering Obesogens: How Toxins Are Making & Keeping Us Fat. This is a totally free training call to bring you up to speed and uncover this class of chemicals and how they are contributing to our struggle with weight gain and losing weight. If you’re a health coach with clients, or someone who plans on seeing clients ever, you really do need to hear this. The call is free, and it’s going to be awesome. If you can’t make the call live, you can still register, and I’ll send you the audio recording afterwards.

Register here: www.laraadler.com/chemicalsnotcalories

See you there!

Okay, so the title of this post seems like a bit of a stretch, right? Because you’re probably thinking that I’m talking about blending up pints of ice cream up the Vitamix and eating those day in and day out. While that might certainly cause you to gain a couple extra pounds, that’s actually not what I’m talking about at all.

In fact, I’m not talking about what you put in your blender, but rather, what your blender is made of.  In the health coaching and health & wellness world in general, the Vitamix (or Blendtec, if you bend that way) reigns supreme! I don’t think I know very many heath coaches that don’t have one. But here’s the rub: The Vitamix & Blendtec blender carafes are made of a specific type of plastic – a clear, hard, and shatter resistant plastic called polycarbonate. Lots of things are made of polycarbonate plastic, from some types of baby bottles, food processor bowls, and water bottles… even your Brita water pitcher.

Polycarbonate plastic is made with a chemical that you’ve probably heard of before – BPA or Bisphenol-A. BPA has been around since the early 1890′s, but it wasn’t until the 1930′s that scientists discovered that BPA was a synthetic estrogen. In fact, for a little while, BPA was actually used in pharmaceuticals as a hormone replacement until it was replaced by DES (Diethylstilbestrol), which was a much more potent synthetic estrogen (and which has a much darker history than BPA!).

Since the 1940′s BPA has been used in thousands of plastic products – not only in the clear hard kinds like a blender carafe, but in the lining of metal cans, in dental sealants, and even in cash register receipts.

So how can BPA make us fat?

As a synthetic estrogen, or “endocrine disrupting chemical” (EDC), BPA is capable of interfering with normal function of the endocrine system by affecting the balanced system of glands and hormones that regulate vital body functions including growth, stress response, production and utilization of insulin, and metabolic rate, among other things.  The most risky time for exposure that can determine whether we’re one of those people who struggles with weight or not as an adult is actually in the womb! Prenatal exposures can predispose people to gain weight in adolescence and adulthood, leading to insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity. Yikes.

But even if you’re not in the womb, doesn’t make much sense to be ingesting chemicals that are capable of fiddling with the super delicate thermostat that your endocrine system is. Remember that our endocrine system regulates all those important body functions, one of which is metabolic rate. Mess with that too much and it won’t really matter how well you eat!

Funny thing is, when it comes to our Vitamix or Blendtec blenders we’re often using these partly to avoid those extra pounds – we pack them full of good, healthy veggies and fruits. This is a GOOD thing. We want to keep doing this for sure. But what about the BPA in the blenders? And what about the brand new BPA-FREE carafe that Vitamix recently released?

That’s a slightly longer discussion – one I’m going to be having very very soon – so stay tuned for more details on that! For now, I’ll just say that you should keep using your Vitamix, and not be fearful of it. BPA and a whole family of other endocrine disrupting chemicals are floating around your home (and your body, and your clients bodies) – let’s tackle those first! (watch this space for a special announcement later this week!!)

As health coaches you know what the word organic means… you gravitate towards it, you seek it out. When reading a menu or shopping at the grocery store, it’s one of the words that just jumps out at you (along with raw, gluten-free, dairy-free, fermented, etc!). You’re health conscious, you’re a label reader, and you teach your clients to be label readers (and menu readers) too.

What and how much we know about food is what sets us apart from other people – our hunger for information about all things healthy and healing is what drove us towards being health coaches. But would you be able to spot an erroneous use of the word organic in the image above? Most people wouldn’t – health coach or otherwise.

Last weekend I went out to dinner with a friend and fellow health coach to a restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It’s new, modern and is focused on clean, natural foods. Their meats are pasture raised, and antibiotic free, and their grains and vegetables are certified organic. Their philosophy is “to serve healthy, carefully sourced and delicious food.”

In perusing the menu, the words “ROASTED ORGANIC SALMON” jumped out at me. Huh? I know vegetables, fruits, grains, and even meats can be organically raised, and certified organic by the USDA, but fish? Not so much.

The waitress didn’t seem to understand when I asked her to clarify what the menu meant by “organic salmon” – she uttered the words “healthier” and “Whole Foods”, but was a little lost beyond that. The manager came out and nervously explained that they source organic salmon from a boutique seafood purveyor based out of NY who sells them Organic Scottish Salmon, and he even brought out the purchase order to show me that’s what they were buying.

By all appearances, yeah, they were buying and serving organic salmon. Story over, right? Nope, not so fast.

Here’s the deal: In the United States, the USDA’s National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is the agency that regulates the USDA Organic Seal and develops the standards for what’s permitted in organic practices (they don’t however regulate the use of the word organic – just the seal itself). Back in 2000 when these standards were developed, they took into consideration agriculture (food crops) and land animals (cows, chickens, pigs, etc), but they didn’t set any standards for aquaculture (fish).

Fast forward a few years later, we see farmed salmon and other species establishing itself around the world as a consistent source of seafood that among other things markets itself as a “sustainable” seafood that takes the pressure of overfishing off the ocean stocks.

The NOSB determined that it would be impossible to categorize wild-caught seafood as organic, as there is no way to enact any sort of standards – wild species will migrate through rivers and oceans, and there’s no control over what kinds of pollutants, if any, they will be swimming through, and there’s no way to control what these wild fish are eating. It is the establishment of standards that allows for the uniformity of production that can earn an “organic” label. No ability to set standards = no possible way to define as organic.

“Organic” wild-caught seafood is an impossibility and doesn’t exist.

A closed system, like a farm, is the only way to have standards in place to follow. Around 2004/2005 an attempt was made to establish a set of guidelines for farmed organic aquaculture, that mirrored many of the practices that are used for land animals, like cows and chickens. There were too many loopholes and too many upset people who forced the NOSB back to the drawing board, where they still sit. At the moment, there is NO USDA CERTIFICATION for farmed organic seafood. It does’t exist (but they’re working on it!).

It does however exist in other countries, and this is how it possible for you to see the words “organic salmon” on a menu and it’s technically accurate, although with major, major caveats. In the UK, mainly Scotland and Ireland, where seafood farming has been practiced for a while now, more and more farms are attempting to convert to organic standards, set by European regulatory agencies. Canada released it’s own set of standards for “organic seafood” earlier this year – both the Canadian and European standards have come under heavy attack from environmentalists and supporters of the organic foods movement, and with good reason.

So what’s wrong with farmed seafood?

Farmed seafood is notorious for being a major pollutant to aquatic environments and to the bodies of the fish themselves. Studies have shown that farmed salmon (although other species have this problem as well) have much higher levels of PCB’s and dioxins than wild-caught fish and that the crowded conditions in which they are raised necessitates the use of antibiotics and pesticides to prevent disease from spreading and infestations of things like sea lice. They also have a much higher fat content that their wild caught counterparts, which from an Omega-3 standpoint might sound good, actually isn’t, as this fat can often serve as a reservoir for fat soluble toxins.
The waste that these penned up fish produce is an environmentalists nightmare, and the conditions are anything but ethical or healthy. This isn’t very different from the factory farming model of cattle or chicken, which we all work to stay away from, and encourage our clients to stay away from. Shouldn’t “factory farming” of seafood be the same? (hint: yes.)

But if these farmers are operating “organically” isn’t that better? Possibly, but likely not very much. Many of these so called organic farmed fish operations do use much lower stocking densities (how many fish per pen) than conventional operations, likely reducing (but not eliminating) the need for antibiotics and pesticides, and they’re able to control the quality of the feed the fish are getting – these are good things, but I don’t think they’re good enough, and they certainly, in my opinion, don’t live up to what most of us have come to understand about organic. These international organic standards also seem to allow a certain amount of pesticide and/or antibiotic use at certain stages of the fish’s life – something that continues to irritate those looking for strict organic standards.
In looking at a menu that reads “organic salmon”, I know what they’re trying to tell me, what they’re trying to express, but for me, this raises more eyebrows than had the menu just said “salmon”. To me, Organic Farmed Seafood is an oxymoron. Farmed seafood is full of pollutants, is devastating to the environment, and produces weak, pale, and tasteless fish (did you know that farmed salmon are fed a synthetic, petroleum based compound called astaxanthin to give their flesh a bright pink color? If you see “color added” on a label, this is what they are referring to. gross.) I consider Organic Farmed Seafood an affront to those who really stand by the purity of the organic movement, and all the it entails.

So what did I tell the manager of this restaurant?

I was polite and reminded him that people eat at his restaurant likely because they’re looking for a healthier option, and that for most people, the word ‘organic’ is loaded with associations and expectations, and that using it to refer to a piece of fish that is farm raised (and by default, very likely full of pollutants and toxins) is a little misleading. Since most people don’t understand the nuances of organic labeling, especially as it refers to seafood, it’s better to be clear and just call it out for what it is: Farm Raised. Thankfully he was receptive and appreciative (at least to my face!) for my explaining to him something he didn’t know about, and told me that he’s pass on the information to the owner.

Will they change the menu? Doubtful, but I certainly hope they will. As more and more people become savvy shoppers and eaters, and learn to question what’s really behind a label, or certification, the better off we’ll be.

What choice will you make next time you see “Organic Salmon” on a menu??

I’m a DIY kind of lady… as a fiercely independent person, it’s just part of my DNA, so I make my own essential oil spray. But I know that not everyone is as hands on as me. For clients I recommend they start their journey into essential oils as cleaners by trying the Young Living Thieves Oil cleaners (No, I’m not a rep – I just really like the product!) They can be found on Amazon.com if you’re not keen on the whole ‘order through a rep’ thing.

They make a 1oz spray bottle that’s perfect as hand sanitizer, doorknob spray, or even air freshener that’s inexpensive and makes a great welcome gift to clients as you talk to them about less toxic items around the house!

As a health coach you’ve likely dabbled in all kinds of unique and interesting things… it’s part of the innate curiosity that got us into this profession in the first place! We sniff out and investigate all kinds of topics related to health and wellness, from unusual superfoods, to new mashups of yoga and pilates, and everything in between.

If you’re like me though, you like to seek out as much fact as possible when exploring a new food, new product, or new exercise routine. I’m not someone who’s easily convinced by marketing messages and fancy product demos or testimonials… Its important to me to seek out the nitty gritty details.

Essential oils has recently been one of those things for me…. a topic that’s certainly not new, and not even that new to me, but one that I’ve begun to look at in a new light since going down this path of chemical toxins.

While I freely admit to not being an essential oil master I do know that they and the plants that they hail from have been used for thousands of years from ancient Egypt to the Arabian Empire and the battle fields of WWII. People back then saw that these oils had medicinal healing properties and many where antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal. The Egyptians used a mixture of salts, waxes and yes, plant oils to prevent bacterial growth in the bodies they so carefully preserved.

Now I’m not trying to preserve bodies or anything… I’m just interested in the powerful properties that essential oils have been shown to have. A quick search in the National Institute Of Health’s PUBMED database pull up over 4000 hits for studies looking at the properties of essential oils.

Just the other day I posted a NYTimes article on my Facebook Page (have you “liked” my Facebook page yet? If not, you’re missing out: “Like” me here: www.facebook.com/pages/Lara-Adler-Holistic-Health-Coach ) about how wax paper embedded with cinnamon oils kept breads fresher longer by keeping mold growth at bay.

Essential Oils have been clinically shown in thousands of studies to be just as effective, if not more, at killing bacteria, viruses, and molds. In fact, essential oils have been shown to be effective even against antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria!

Because you’re curious and adventurous (most health coaches seem to fit this mold! We must be if we stepped into this profession where we can often be looked at as a tiny bit kooky!), essential oils may be something that you’re totally open to exploring. Your clients however, might be another story!

Remember that your clients likely aren’t the health, wellness, and nutrition junkies that you are.. they’re coming from a different place. As you help support your clients around upgrading the foods they’re eating, and taking steps to better protect their health, essential oils very well might fall into that conversation. For those clients who are a little more resistant to some of the more “fringe” or “hippy-esque” they might need a little more convincing!

To help you help them, I’ve put together a quick handout extolling the virtues of essential oils as well as a number of citations for those clients who like to see for themselves!

To download your totally free handout – just click here: FREE GUIDE ON ESSENTIAL OILS AS HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS

Do you use essential oils with your clients? I’d love to hear about how you introduce this sometimes “woo-woo perceived” topic to clients.

It’s going to constantly be off-gassing and releasing DEHP into the air. You’ve got a few options: you can go the 100% cotton or hemp shower curtains, but I personally find them to be awkward, heavy, and a pain the butt to wash. I opt for 100% untreated polyester. Normally I’m not a big fan of synthetics, but in this case, it’s inexpensive, easy to wash, and of all the synthetic fabrics, off gasses the least (you can wash it right away if that makes you feel better). Just make sure you’re not buying a polyester curtain that’s been treated with any kind of antimicrobial or antifungal treatment – it will usually say “mildew resistant” or something like that! This type of curtain can be found in most home stores, and on Amazon.con and should run from $8-$15.



Simple solution to a stinky problem!

something stinks…

Close your eyes. Transport yourself to the bath section of your local Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, or other big box store. Imagine yourself in plastic land, surrounded by  dozens of new plastic shower curtains. I don’t know too many people who aren’t familiar with that “shower curtain smell”, and I know less people that enjoy it.

It’s sharp, strong, and gives me a headache. And it’s categorically, no way around it, super bad for you. That’s right “Bad For You” – just like Big Mac’s, partially hydrogenated oils, and deep fried Mars bars.

Shower curtains are made with PVC, or polyvinylchloride. On it’s own PVC is hard and brittle, not very good qualities in a shower curtain, so manufacturers use a plasticizer called Di(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate or DEHP to make it soft and flexible. This same chemical is found in lots of other places around your home (think: in any plastic that’s soft and bendy – rubber ducks, garden hoses, imitation leather purses, tableclothes, etc., as well as personal care products like nail polish and perfumes).

If that oh-so-familiar shower curtain smell inspires your “this cannot be good for me!” vibes, you’re spot in. DEHP acts as a synthetic estrogen in the body, where it’s able to impact our hormones in really detrimental ways. While very few studies have look at the role DEHP and other phthalates play in human disease, they’ve been widely studied in animals, and the results aren’t good. Phthalate exposure has been found to be linked to or associated with multiple developmental and reproductive health issues like:

• early onset of puberty
• interference with normal male genital tract development
• altered hormonal function
• low testosterone, low sperm counts, and testicular cancers.

Because phthalates are synthetic estrogens, in our bodies, they’re able to mimic or block naturally occurring hormones, which can result in everything from metabolic disorders like diabetes and insulin resistance, to thyroid disorders and infertility. In animal studies phthalates have been shown to increase liver weight, compromise liver function, and have adverse effects on the heart, kidneys, lungs, and blood.

Metabolites, or break down products of DEHP have been found in nearly all people tested, indicating that it’s ubiquitous in the environment. A big reason for this is because phthalates like DEHP and others are found in so many products in our homes – and we’re breathing them in, eating them in our foods, and absorbing them through our skin.

When choosing plastics that you bring into your home, be mindful – if it’s plastic and it’s bendy and flexible, it’s very likely made with PVC. Sometimes you can’t avoid plastics, but when it comes to things like shower curtains it’s easy! You may be scratching your head wondering what the heck you should be using if not plastic…. check out my post “Lara Recommends- Shower Curtains” for the easiest solution!

Denise Grinols
www.nutritionbydenise.com

“Lara, I was always very interested in the toxin subject, but I just couldn’t get it together enough to use it with my clients. Telling them not to use products with toxins is not enough, you need to be able to tell them why and how it affects them personally. When I saw your class I immediately signed up. I took lots of notes, and you provided us with some handouts, so between the two I was able to get a rough outline done. Then I did more research on my own and developed a class that I could share with my clients, and it gave me another item to sell for my business. I would not have been able to do this without listening to how you presented the material. Thanks so much!!”

Valarie Grossman

Valarie (you can hear part of her story in the audio clip here) is one of us – a health coach who’s super healthy, understands the importance of eating well, primary foods, appropriate exercise, and a spiritual practice. She was someone who, for a long time, was doing the “right things”, but who could not seem to lose those last stubborn 10 lbs like so many of us, and our clients struggle with. When she heard about my Tools For Teaching Toxicity training program earlier this year, a lightbulb really went off for her – environmental toxicity wasn’t something that was on her radar before, and being someone who doesn’t leave any stone unturned (for her own health OR her clients) she decided to enroll. What happened next was a surprise to her (but not to me!) – over the course of the last 4 months, changing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE other than getting rid of toxins in her home, those last 10lbs just melted away! Gone. No extra effort. Nothing! Why? Because those toxins were holding on to that fat… she make simple systematic changes that weren’t overwhelming. This weight loss is a testament to how connected toxins are with our weight, and our ability to lose it.

Valarie is representative of all those clients that you have that can’t seem to lose weight… don’t you owe it to them to learn if toxicity is what’s holding them back??

Tracey LeBeau
www.inpureharmony.com

Tracey jumped onto the preview call for Tools back in February of this year (you can hear part of her story in the audio clip above) and for her, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. She’s someone who had experienced first hand how taking the toxins out of her life had helped clear up a whole list of health problems, and she just needed the push to fold it into her coaching practice. Tools was that push! Within a day or two of being on this preview call, she was hosting her own preview call for a 21-Day Detox she was running, and was able to use what she learned just immediately! She got so much positive feedback and even had clients registering for her program before her call was even finished. She got words of thanks from clients who were shocked to hear about the toxicity piece and were grateful to have Tracey share what she knew.

Since then, she’s been able to continue to take what she’s learned and apply it immediately to her own coaching practice.. all it took was the opportunity to learn it. Tools for Teaching Toxicity, is that opportunity, and it’s here right now, until July 10th, and then it goes away.

Are you going to miss out on what these coaches now know? I certainly hope not!
Join me in the kickoff of Tools For Teaching Toxicity on July 10th. Register before tomorrow and you’ll also receive the early bird bonus “Getting To The Root of Organics” and it’s companion handout!

To register, just click here: www.laraadler.com/teachingtoxicity

If you’ve not already checked out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen checklist, I can’t recommend it enough! While 100% organic, or as close to it as possible is ideal – it’s not always possible and it’s not always affordable. For times when you have to be selective about what foods to buy organic, it’s a good idea to have the newest version of the Dirty Dozen list on hand. Thankfully the EWG has a handy iphone app so you’ll never be without it. Even if you don’t have a smart phone you can still download the guide, print it out, and keep it in your wallet.

Have family members who’s aren’t fully on board with organic? Forward them this link to the Dirty Dozen guide and explain to them that at a minimum, it’s important that your children eat organic versions of those whenever possible!