There seems to be a consistent link between Parkinson’s Disease and pesticide exposure, although there are more factors to developing Parkinson’s than just pesticides. Generally, exposure to pesticides ups your risk by about 58%, but some pesticides could more than double your risk.
And that’s not including other potential health hazards pesticides may present.
While some people may have a lot of pesticide exposure from living in farm country, most people just get it from two places: lawns, and your grocery store.
Honestly, pesticides and herbicides should be a last ditch effort in treating your lawn. Overusing either can cause the same problems antibiotics face: resistance. Super strains. Bigger, stronger pests. There are plenty of less toxic alternatives: my (in the profession) uncle swears by a mixture of dish soap, red man chewing tobacco, and water for lawn fungus, etc. He reuses an old miracle grow hose attachment to distribute it. Tobacco will be less toxic to your skin and pets, although make sure pets don’t eat your grass after spraying it!
As for food: buying organic will significantly reduce your exposure to pesticides. It not only means the produce wasn’t grown using them, it means no GMO, so it wasn’t engineered to hold and absorb the strongest pesticides (which has the side effect of bringing them into your food—corn syrup anyone?).
If organic isn’t in your budget—be choosy. Apples, strawberries, and other thin-skinned fruit are more likely to have absorbed lots of pesticides. Bananas probably have little to none (the only concern with bananas should be whether they were artificially ripened or preserved). When buying pre-made foods, avoid ingredient lists with corn syrup, soy, and cottonseed oil—they’re big GMO offenders.
If you’re concerned about your exposure, Colloids For Life has a whole section of products dedicated to helping you cleanse your organs and whole body.
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