A number of the detox diet foods like low-carb fruits and vegetables – strawberries and broccoli, for instance turn out to be on the list of those vulnerable to pesticide contamination. And of course the main protein sources – meat, dairy, and eggs – may harbor not only pesticide residues but also hormones and antibiotics – which are exactly what we are trying to avoid on a detox diet.

When you’re following a detox diet, you can drive yourself crazy trying to sort out these issues, and the fact that the government doesn’t have national standards to clarify what’s what doesn’t help. If you can afford to eat organic food (whether you’re on a detox diet or not), you probably should do so. If you can afford only some organic food, here are some suggestions.

For a healthy and nutritious detox diet, my vote goes to strawberries, broccoli, potatoes (for their skins), and pumpkin. Veal and pork are not raised with hormones, so you don’t have to worry about them for that reason. According to Dr. Samuel Epstein of the University of Chicago, the government has never tested a single animal for hormone levels so it has no idea what he actual levels are – but independent tests reveal levels 30 times the normal background levels for cattle. So beef may be the organic choice in the meat department, if you have just one.

Chickens are another story, and you should only really eat chicken after you’ve finished your detox diet; free-range sounds wonderful, but in fact it means only that the chicken was able to stick its head out the door, not that it was frolicking on the farm. As long as chickens stop getting antibiotics and hormones two weeks before they meet their maker, they’re certified as being raised without hormones or antibiotics – not such a wonderful aid to detoxing your body. Small-farm chickens, in flocks of less than 20,000, have no regulation at all. So you might as well just choose a brand that consistently tastes good.

Remember that toxins like pesticides and excess hormones are stored in fat – if you cut off the visible fat, you’ll be removing a lot of them. That’s also a good reason to choose organic dairy products such as butter and cheese; as a rule, these also offer significant taste benefits.

Organic eggs are a relative bargain and much tastier than the generic product, and great to include in your post detox diet.

On Dr. Epstein’s list of the Dirty Dozen most contaminated products in America in terms of known carcinogens, right up front are two brands of hot dogs: Oscar Meyer and Hebrew National – but these certainly won’t be part of your detox diet anyway – will they?.

As with everything else in the world of food, you’ll have to consider the issues and make your own decisions. There are no easy answers, but there’s also no reason to worry about all this excessively. Dropping sugar and junk food out of your detox diet will make a much bigger difference in your health than eating all-organic, however desirable that may be.