REMOVING CHEMICALS FROM BERRIES.

[moonbeam4]

Hi gùys... Am I ever happy to have found you😃 A brief introduction, i have cirhosis of the liver and am turning my life around after years of abusing and neglecting my body. Things have been improving in leaps and bounds this last year largely i believe due to a change in ( needless to say attitude lol 😂 ) diet mainly going organic when possible and cutting out sugar totally. I did suffer from tremendous pain with neuropathy which has now thank goodness disapeared, and also my liver was very swollen. The swelling has reduced remarkably and I believe this is a result of both change of eating habits and fasting which I do one day a week if not two , usually mondays and tuesdays. I am finding myself by default almost O.M.A.D and would like to ask how long others doing this have for their feeding window. I have about 3 stone to lose and am 53yrs, forgot to mention that.To my main question of the day ( there will be many more 😂) obviously i eat organic as much as possible but love berries in my diet and find they can be very expensive. How do others feel about non organic fruit, berries in particular? and what is ( if there is one ) the best way of removing chemicals etc, i read that strawberries and raspberries are heavily sprayed up to three times before we buy them. Also, anyone gone on a fruit particularly berry or grape fast and what were the results? I,m thinking of a month grape fast maybe?. Thanks guys, hope you,re enjoying the weekend. ☺

[Hidden]

Hi moonbeam4, well we're glad that you found us and welcome to F&F. I think that you've done really well be changing your life around and hope that you benefit from OMAD and am sure you'll get a positive response from S11m amongst others on this.

As for berries not being organic you're absolutely right that berries are sprayed with pesticides and the way I see this is I love raspberries in particular and wash them thoroughly under running water just before eating, and I have a special small collander. With vegetables I leave them in the sink in cold water and then wash them to remove pesticides/soil, I have a great source of organic tomatoes but I still wash those.

The way I see things is processed foods are adulterated anyway and freshly washed raspberries are far healthier and I'd have thought that as long as we stay hydrated we'd be pretty safe, as they'd flush out of our systems sooner.

I wish you well with cirrhosis of the liver and do let us how you get on.

Jerry. 😊

[Stoozie Administrator]

I read that for both brassicas and berries, a wash in water with dish soap, then a rinse until there are no bubbles in the water at all lowers the chemicals to the same as the organic equivalent.

Re: a grape fast. I wish you lots of luck with it, and do keep us posted. A couple of questions/concerns: grapes alone will spike your blood sugar and make you hungrier than if you hadn't eaten at all. Is there another plant-based food you would consider substituting? I am assuming you chose grapes for that reason. Avocado, coconut or macadamia nuts would keep your insulin much more steady.

[Hidden in reply to Stoozie]

This is really interesting about wishing berries in soapy water Stoozie good advice with the grapes too.

This made me do a search:

foodrevolution.org/blog/how...

[S11m Volunteer 70lb IF20 in reply to Stoozie]

I eat an apple, an orange and a banana every day - but now I eat them with breakfast - so that they make me hungry for lunch... and I am now less hungry in the afternoon (fasting from 14:00 Till 10:00).

[S11m Volunteer 70lb IF20]

Hi, moonbeam4 , Welcome.

If you are in the UK, you could wait till Autumn, and go on a wild blackberry fast... you could start in Cornwall and follow the harvest North - they have different wild berries in Scotland.

Most things on the LCHF and other diets are expensive.

[Flissie]

Hello MoonbeamWorth trying to find yr local farmers' market/local growers/city farm etc;, enquire re an allotment/gardening club - perhaps join as a non practical person. If you don't garden perhaps join a group to garden share and learn/help an elderly person who can no longer garden - and it's exercise! Many people have apple trees and just let them fall and rot - others put out a box or two everyday to help people which is nice. Walk around and check - many small towns have old fashioned people's gardens - the fruit blossom will be out now - get chatting! You will find people will want to talk re their gardens and produce - enjoy your new "walking social life". Washing fruit: some people use the special vegetable washes from a health food store. Soap? In my view depends on the quality of soap used to wash fruit - but that will take us down a different path! Many people reduce their carb foods - particularly wheat - lots of info and books re this - take things gradually and get advice and good luck . We are all on the path of discovery! Regards, Felicity

[S11m Volunteer 70lb IF20 in reply to Flissie]

If you eat garden apples you can get added protein from the maggots... but watch out for the wasps!

[MTCee]

I enjoy eating frozen grapes as a dessert sometimes....it's like eating juicy little grape sorbets. Before freezing, I put the grapes in a large bowl of water and add a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate to get rid of any pesticides. I then give them a rinse and put them in the freezer overnight. You could do this with any kind of berry I imagine.