Avoid a Toxic Turkey Day
Growing up, Thanksgiving was like a second Mother's Day...
I remember watching my dad run the show. He'd spend all day making dinner for our family, preparing the oyster stew, the gravy, the stuffing, and more. We even brought out the honorary carving knife for him.
At the end of the day, the kids did the dishes. And mom? Boy, did she love Turkey Day.
This food-obsessed holiday isn't easy on our waistlines. Some estimates show Americans inhale about 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving.
(To me, that's OK... Stuffing yourself for one day won't kill you.)
But did you know that some of your Thanksgiving favorites contain something more dangerous than fat and extra calories?
I'm talking about pesticides.
Every year, an organization called the Environmental Working Group ("EWG") creates a "Dirty Dozen" list of the 12 foods that have the highest amounts of pesticides.
These poisons are known to alter human liver and brain function – even in minute amounts. Studies have also linked foods containing pesticides with Parkinson's disease, diabetes, thyroid disease, and some cancers.
Just a couple of months ago, the EWG published a study in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.
Scientists used urine-test and food-survey data collected from 2013 to 2018 from 1,837 participants. The team found a strong link between greater dietary exposure to pesticides and higher levels of molecular byproducts of pesticides in urine.
And with Turkey Day just around the corner, you might be surprised to learn that some holiday favorites are often high in pesticides.
So today, we're using this year's Thanksgiving meal to show you how to buy safer foods...
Here are some popular holiday dishes made with produce on the EWG list. Keep reading to see where their ingredients rank...
- Stuffing
- Succotash
- Green bean casserole
- Sweet potato casserole
- Mashed potatoes
- Apple pie
In its 2025 list, the EWG ranked 47 common fruits and vegetables based on the amount of residual pesticide found on them in testing done by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA").
Here are some of the ones that may make it onto your Thanksgiving Day shopping list that often have high pesticide residue and are worth buying organic...
- Apples
- Potatoes
- Green beans
- Celery
Now, it's important to note that organic farms still use various chemicals and pesticides. They just use ones certified by the National Organic Standards Board. Two of the most common organic pesticides are rotenone and pyrethrin. At high exposure levels, rotenone has a possible link to Parkinson's disease, and pyrethrin can cause people to have tremors, aggressive behavior, and excessive salivation.
Still, some ingredients for Thanksgiving sides – produce on the EWG's "Clean Fifteen" list – that you don't need to buy organic are:
- Sweet potatoes
- Mushrooms
- Frozen sweet peas
- Onions
- Fresh or frozen sweet corn
But it's not just produce you need to worry about...
For the past couple of years, the FDA has been investigating cinnamon for high lead levels. As of now, the FDA has issued a health alert on 19 cinnamon products, with one added just this past Friday. Skip these members of the "naughty" list.
The two main types of cinnamon are Ceylon and cassia. The former hails from Sri Lanka, while cassia varieties come from China, Indonesia (also called korintje cinnamon), and Vietnam (Saigon cinnamon).
Both cassia and Ceylon offer health benefits thanks to their naturally occurring antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. Some studies have also found that cinnamon reduces heart-disease risk by improving cholesterol levels and lowering blood pressure, as well as helping to regulate blood-sugar levels.
However, both types of cinnamon contain a flavor compound called coumarin that can be harmful in high doses... causing liver damage or other health complications. Cassia contains more of this stuff than Ceylon.
Our verdict? As long as you're not consuming huge amounts (or popping cinnamon supplements), it doesn't really matter which cinnamon you're using. A sprinkle of cinnamon on your food a day is fine. So I'll keep getting my cinnamon on the regular. I like to sprinkle a little Ceylon in my cup of coffee for a punch of flavor.
Oh, and don't forget about proper food handling to protect yourself and your guests from food poisoning.
For produce, that means giving those ingredients a good rinse under running water to remove bacteria like E. coli and salmonella, as well as pesticides.
Me, I give my produce a good soak in a vinegar-water bath for up to 10 minutes. (I use three parts water to one part vinegar.) Afterward, they take a shower under some running water.
If you skip the soak, always rinse under running water... A study published in the Journal of Food Protection cleaned samples of different fruits and vegetables using veggie-wash soap, electrolyzed oxidizing water, ozone, and chlorine bleach, and compared the results with simply running the food under cold tap water for 15 seconds.
Researchers concluded that while irregularly shaped foods like broccoli benefit most from being soaked rather than rinsed, the tap water was just as effective at removing E. coli and salmonella as the other treatments for smooth foods like tomatoes. And rinsing always reduced the concentrations of those harmful contaminants.
As you're finishing up your Thanksgiving Day shopping, use the EWG's food list to help you get the healthiest – and safest – foods for your table.
Exposure to harmful chemicals through food is a danger you can control. And at Health & Wealth Bulletin, we're all about empowering you in your health and wealth.
Want even more ways to supercharge your health and wealth? Consider checking out my flagship newsletter, Retirement Millionaire. Get the details here.
What We're Reading...
- Did you miss it? Don't let your next meal kill you.
- Something different: The South Pacific island that worships American GIs.
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Health & Wealth Bulletin Research Team
November 11, 2025