Several months ago I featured the Dirty Dozen from the Environmental Working Group. This term refers to the 12 most heavily-sprayed fruits and vegetables. Now there is an expanded list from the this sane group. Just go to www.foodnews.org and look on the Home Page for “Get the Guide” and order it for free, as I have done.

The expanded list includes 43 fruits and vegetables with a score for levels of pesticides. For examples, peaches are at the top of the list with a score of 100, so peaches should definitely be purchased organically. Onions are at the bottom of the list with a score of 1, so these are less important to buy organically grown.

This is an excellent guide for those who are considering organic and can only afford to do it gradually. Buy organic produce for the foods you eat most often and are high on the list and gradually add those foods you eat less frequently. Eventually, you may find that your food budget balances out, even if this means avoiding certain foods. For example, I am unable to buy organic grapes in winter, so I just eat them in season and savor them even more, since I don’t eat them during winter months.

If organic is important to you, then get the guide. I plan to hang it on my ‘frig and/or carry another list in my purse. And when you shop at the Farmers’ Market, don’t be afraid to ask if the produce is organic or at least unsprayed. Your health is important, and I have yet to find any research that says our bodies need pesticides!

Last month I reviewed The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler. Here is the feedback I received from one of my readers:

“I was touched by The Girls Who Went Away part. When I was a young girl my own older sister was sent away. Not only was she eighteen and pregnant, but she was carrying a bi-racial baby–beyond unacceptable in the late sixties. I have put the book on my list to buy the next time I’m at Barnes and Noble.”

After reviewing this book, I saw Then She Found Me, a movie with Bette Midler and Helen Hunt, who also directed the film, based on the book by the same name by Elinor Lipman. Both the book and movie are excellent, although the movie does not follow the book. Bette Midler is the birth mother who finds her daughter 30 plus years after giving her up for adoption. Bette Midler and Helen Hunt are both wonderful in the movie.

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Last month I also featured gluten-free foods. I received an email from my friend and colleague Hope and she told me that psyllium seeds also contain gluten. The only grains that do not contain gluten are rice and corn, from what she has read.

I Googled this issue and note the quote from Original Indian Psyllium of Dr. Popov: “One hundred percent natural, non-addictive water soluble fibre, attained by extraction from the seed coat of Indian Psyllium plant. It does not contain colourings, preservatives or chemical additives. In Indian ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) it has been used for more than two thousand years. Psyllium of Dr. Popov does not irritate mucous membranes of the stomach and intestines, does not contain gluten and is suitable for vegans and vegetarians.” Source: www.psyllium.cz/aj-index.html

However, one source on the Internet noted that Metamucil, whose main ingredient is Psyllium, does contain gluten. So when you buy high fiber products as part of your gluten-free diet, please check the labels.

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