Celery & pesticides (, nectarines)

[fictor]

A couple of days ago I tried some raw celery in my avocado salad. I really like the taste it ads, and it does not cause any stomach discomfort like say onions or garlic sometimes does.

My only question is this; celery tastes quite "salty" (mmm, lovely after not eating salt for more than 2 years ) Because of this I wonder if celery contains too much salts, and will cause acne in the same way as eating salt would?

Does anybody else have any experience with eating celery on the wai diet?

[RRM]

Do you mean the root of the celery plant; celeriac?
No experience, but it contains 77 mg sodium per 100 gram,
so thats not too much; it will not cause acne.

[Iris]

I thought fictor meant blanching celery (?)

[Oscar]

My guess is he just means the stalks of the plants, which are called celery:

[Iris]

Celery stalks are blanching celery, aren't they?

[Oscar]

Yes and no

Stalks are the part between the leaf and the stem of the plant.
Blanching is making something (i.c. the stalks of the celery plant) lighter (in dutch: (ver)bleken) or bleaching by blocking (sun)light. Unblanched celery has a deeper green color and a stronger flavor than blanched celery (in dutch: bleekselderij), and it's apparently higher in nutrition.

I was reacting more to RRM's 'roots', but I'm pretty sure fictor ate blanched celery.

[RRM]

Celery contains 80 mg sodium per 100 gram,
which is not too much.

[zackcentury]

One interesting thing I just read about celery is that it very often contains pesticides in dangerous quantities, unless it is organic. So, if you must eat it, be careful!

[Mr. PC]

Would aggressively washing the celery be of much help here?

[RRM]

Its the skin.
The soft celery skin (much like nectarines) readily absorbs pesticides.
Aggressively washing doesnt seem to help.

[Mr. PC]

Does that mean nectarines are also a bad choice? What if they're peeled?

If the celery is soaked in hot water, than the water is drained, do you think that would get rid of the pesticides? Not that I have celery much but I still like to know these things.

[RRM]

Does that mean nectarines are also a bad choice?

Non-organic ones?
Yes.

What if they're peeled?

The problem of their soft skin is that the bad stuff is readily absorbed, and not just sticks to the skin,
so that peeling will make a difference, but not that much.

If the celery is soaked in hot water, than the water is drained, do you think that would get rid of the pesticides?

I dont know.

[Kookaburra]

Does that mean nectarines are also a bad choice?

Non-organic ones?
Yes.

What about the rest of the stone fruit family(apricots,plums etc)?

[RRM]

I think that the skin of plums is much stronger, compared to grapes.
But apricots, probably, yes.

[Kookaburra]

What about dried nectarines or dried fruits in general? Peel off the skin too?