Beef
If you eat beef during pregnancy, I strongly suggest choosing organic beef. The meat from grass-fed, organically raised cattle tends to be leaner overall and has about five times the omega-3s of its conventional counterpart.
In contrast, a 2007 study published in the Oxford journal Human Reproduction linked mothers who ate beef from conventionally raised cattle during pregnancy with lower sperm counts years later in their adult sons. The men in the study whose mothers ate conventional beef most frequently had sperm counts that averaged 24 percent lower than their counterparts, and they were three times more likely to be infertile. The authors of the study believe the added hormones were the culprit.
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Milk
If you drink milk, opt for organic. Milk from organic, pasturefed cows is produced without antibiotics, artificial hormones, and pesticides, and can also provide extra omega-3s and beta-carotene. I find that when women start making organic choices for themselves and for their families, they often intuitively start at the top of the food chain with organic milk. They understand that the foods they eat and the medicines they take will often get into their breast milk, so they easily make the connection that the medicines and foods given to dairy cows may affect their family's health. They prefer avoiding the routine use of antibiotics, artificial hormones, pesticides, and genetically modified feed. And I agree.
Recent USDA monitoring data found that 27 percent of the conventional milk samples contained synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. By contrast, lower levels of the pesticide showed up in just 5 percent of the organic samples.
Potatoes
When making the switch to organic vegetables, be sure to put potatoes on your shopping list. As the number one consumed vegetable in the United States, conventionally farmed white potatoes also have one of the highest levels of pesticide contamination.
So by switching to organic, you can make a big difference in two important ways: by lowering your own exposure to chemical pesticides and by using your consumer clout to create a bigger market for the organic version of this popular veggie. And be sure to eat the peels! That way you will get all the available nutrients, including high levels of potassium and Vitamin C.
About the Author:
Dr. Alan Greene, author of Raising Baby Green, is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of California San Francisco. In addition to being the founder of www.DrGreene.com, he is the Chief Medical Officer of A.D.A.M., and the Pediatric Expert for WebMD. He is the Chair Elect of The Organic Center and on the Advisory Board of Healthy Child Healthy World. Dr. Greene appears frequently on TV, radio, websites, and in print including appearances on The Today Show, Fox and Friends, The Wall Street Journal, Parents Magazine, and US Weekly. Dr. Greene is a practicing pediatrician at Stanford University's Packard Children's Hospital.
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