Health Benefits Of Organic Food
What Is Organic Food? Awesome Organic Food Facts
Everyone’s heard about the supposed health benefits of organic food.
You would have heard about them, just like you’ve probably heard about the benefits of juicing. Unless you’ve had your head stuck in the sand all these years.
Say, did you know that ostriches stick their head’s in the sand when they sense predators? Some defense…
Anyway, let’s get back to the health benefits of organic food. Thousands of people around the world believe that organic food is better than non-organic food.
If you just shrugged your shoulders because you don’t know the difference, keep reading.
What Is Organic Food?
What is the difference between conventional farming methods and organic farming methods?
The difference is a case of natural versus unnatural (similar to the raw food diet)
Conventional farming methods generally use whatever means necessary to ensure a successful crop. Organic farming methods focus on using natural methods. This means that they are unwilling to use pesticides and other unnatural chemicals to grow their food. They do this because they believe that there are a number of health benefits of organic food.
Let’s take a more specific look.
In Conventional farming methods, they apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth. They use insecticides and other chemicals to kill pests and eliminate disease. To manage weeds, they use chemicals. In the case of animals, they use hormones and antibiotics to encourage growth and discourage disease.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that convention farming methods try to game the system.
What do I mean by that?
Rather than working with nature, they work against it. While this is usually done with good intentions (increasing quantity and quality of food), some believe it has disastrous effects on the quality of the food (more on that later). Instead of using natural occurring substances to promote growth, they use chemicals to encourage natural growth. However, since the world has not evolved under the influence of synthetic substances, it is unknown what long-term effects they may have on the food.
For Organic farming methods, instead of chemicals, they use natural fertilizers like manure and compost to enhance the soil and plants. Rather than insecticides, they use insects and birds that will benefit the plants, reduce disease and eliminate actual pests. Rather than managing weeds with chemicals, they rotate crops regularly to give the soil a chance to recover its health. For animals, they skip the hormones and antibiotics. Instead, they opt for natural solutions, such as open air, grazing, clean housing and a balanced diet.
The Difference Between Organic and Natural
Contrary to what you might expect, “organic” and “natural” mean different things when it comes to food labels. Anyone can use the term “natural” to describe their products. However, to legally describe your product as “organic”, it must pass a number of Government tests. So next time you’re in the supermarket, don’t get mixed up between natural and organic. Whether organic or not, the benefits of healthy eating remain.
Health Benefits of Organic Food
After reading the above, do you think there are health benefits of organic food?
Surprisingly, there is little scientific evidence to support the theory that organic food is better than non-organic food. However, that is not to say that the benefits don’t exist. It may be a case of the research being incomplete. In any case, I’d rather be on the safe side.
And anyway, some tests have shown that organic food is better.
How?
For example, a 10 year study done by the University of California, organic tomatoes have a much higher level of antioxidants than non-organic tomatoes. This is due to the fact that there is less nitrogen in the soil as they are growing.
Antioxidants are important in fighting disease. They are especially potent in helping the body to defend itself against cancer. Organic food and juicing for cancer go great together.
Many people who believe in the health benefits of organic food do so because they don’t like the idea of using synthetic chemicals to grow our food. Neither do I, in fact. In my experience and reading, the more natural a food, the healthier it is (as a general rule).
Adding chemicals and anything unnatural simply seems wrong. However, I’m willing to eat my words if it is found that there are no health benefits of organic food. But I don’t think this will happen. Smoking cigarettes was once considered beneficial since no evidence pointed to the contrary. Today, it is widely believe that cigarettes cause cancer and range of diseases.
In time, I think the same will be revealed of non-organic food.
Since crops grown without the use of pesticides have to defend themselves on a more vigorous level, they develop a higher level of antioxidants and phytonutrients. So while many believe the situation inconclusive, it makes sense to believe that the health benefits of organic food are awesome.
Interesting Organic Food Facts
- Some studies have shown that pesticides can have a negative affect on the human nervous system, as well as increase the risk of cancer.
- Organic food is perfect for juicing for health.
- Organic food tastes better and has been proven scientifically. Try it sometime. Get an organic tomato and a non-organic tomato. Take a bit of each and compare the taste. You’ll be surprised.
Disadvantages of Organic Food
- Organic food generally costs 40% more than non-organic food.
- Like I said above, the science is inconclusive as to whether the health benefits of organic food are all that great. For example, organic food that is grown on damaged soil is unlikely to provide much benefit. It’s a case of the soil being ravished by traditional farming methods, which removes most of the benefits of the soil.
- Some believe that ploughing or tilling (organic farming) damages the environment more than synthetic chemicals.
- Some “organic” farms use manure from animals that have been grown non-organically. As such, the manure is likely to be polluted with non-organic contaminants.
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