As I'm reading an Anti-Aging book written by a few Medical Doctors (names withheld to protect the innocent), I find myself appalled as I dive into the section on Methods for Cleaning Foods. I thought these guys would have a little more eco-awareness.

The suggested substance was diluted Clorox - yuck! Don't they realize how harmful the effects are of ingesting chlorine? It kills the healthy bacteria and other good flora in our intestinal tract, among other things.

"Well, that's the point" you say, "we want to get rid of bacteria, fungus, metallics, and sprays in our foods, don't we?"

Absolutely! But there is a healthier way to do it. Enter, once again, essential oils. Essential Oils have the ability to eliminate unwanted bacteria, fungus, sprays, and other pollutants that are harbored on fresh foods. Unlike Clorox, essential oils don't destroy the entire bounty of beautiful microbes that are naturally occurring, nor do they affect the healthy mineral content. The same thing holds true when we ingest essential oils (given they are organic and therapeutic grade). They don't destroy all of the flora like Clorox would (and like anti-biotics too). Essential oils respect the normal environment and only get rid of the invasive critters.

Here's how to bathe your fresh foods with essential oils:

• The best oils to use are citrus oils - like lemon and orange.
• Create a bath water in a clean sink or a big pot and add several drops of your essential oil.
• Separate foods into groups - leafy vegetables, root vegetables, thin skin fruit, thick skin fruit, and eggs.
• Place each group into the bath water (changing water as you change groups).
• Immerse the foods and then take out of the water and immerse again. You can keep the leafy greens in the water for up to 5 minutes, and the thicker skinned veggies and fruits up to 10 minutes.
• Scrub the thicker skinned root vegetables and fruits with a food scrubber.
• Eggs can be exposed to pesticide sprays in pens, so cleaning the eggshell with the egg still intact can be helpful
• Meats and other flesh foods can be soaked for 20 minutes in this mixture.