IS ORGANIC FOOD BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH?
IS ORGANIC FOOD BETTER FOR YOUR HEALTH?
With recent revelations coming to light of just how many harmful additives are found in commercially farmed meat and vegetables, organic food is fast becoming the preferred choice of many food enthusiasts worldwide. Those who have already made the decision to only eat organic food have found that nothing beats the farm fresh taste of produce that has gone straight from the ground to the table!
Is Organic Food Worth It?
Most will have already realised that organic food typically tends to be more expensive and, sadly, this has meant that many people simply don’t have the luxury of being able to purchase organic products from smaller businesses. But does going organic really make that much difference or is it all just media hype?
Organic Food Definition
Organic food is produced via particular methods that meet all the legal criteria of organic farming. This means all meat, dairy and vegetable products will be free of man-made pesticides and chemical fertilizers so that none of these harmful toxins are ingested when eating organically farmed products. From an ethical standpoint, organic farming is much kinder to animals too, as they are raised free range and are fed only the highest quality natural feed in addition to having plenty of space to roam around during their lifespan.
Does Organic Really Make a Difference?
In short, yes. Research has revealed that organic foods could have a higher nutritional value than commercially grown produce that tends to be full of chemical pesticides and growth hormones. Additionally, certain studies have shown that there are links between the pesticides found in food and cancer, albeit in rare cases. It’s no secret that the environment is suffering due to the increase of pollution and chemicals in the atmosphere and much of this is caused by big scale farming, so the methods used in organic farming have a much more positive effect on the environment too. With regards to health, ethics and morals, going organic is, by far, the better option.
Is Organic Food Better For Your Health?
The jury is still out from a medical and scientific point of view with regards to how dramatically organic food can improve your health, but like most things in life, there are always two sides to every story – some experts insist that eating organic food really doesn’t make that much difference to your health, while others assure us that ingesting GMOs and pesticide residues can be incredibly toxic. According to the Mayo Clinic, the disadvantages of eating “conventional” food rather than organic include a higher risk of consuming toxic metals, less nutrients and more bacteria.
The Benefits of Organic Farming
There are indeed some major benefits to organic farming, including:
• Reducing the levels of pollution in the environment
• Promoting sustainable agricultural trade
• Energy saving practices
• Encouraging crop diversity and improving soil fertility
• Contributes to the prevention of adverse climate change
• Toxin-free foods
And many more…
Aside from the aforementioned points, organic food is also tastier – for example, nothing beats the sweetness of homegrown tomatoes!
Organic Meat
By law, organic meat always comes from animals that are not given antibiotics or hormones, therefore it is considered to be better-tasting and kinder to animals. If given the choice, most people with sufficient knowledge of traditional farming practices, the effect on the animal and on the environment among other facts, would rather eat animal products that have been ethically produced and that are free of harmful chemicals, even if it means paying a slightly higher price. While research on the health benefits of opting to eat organic meat is still in its early stages, popular documentaries have already given us an insight into the horrific conditions in which non-organic meat animals are kept, as well as the antibiotics and chemicals that they are forced to consume – and many of these chemicals are then absorbed into our own bodies once we eat them.
Organic Vegetables
If you have ever had the pleasure of growing your own vegetables at home, you will resonate with the fact that they tend to taste so much better than store bought crops. This is because organic vegetables don’t contain chemical preservatives to boost their shelf life, nor chemicals to increase their resilience to disease. On the flip side, oftentimes, organic vegetables will not be as large or perfectly formed as those sold in grocery stores as they are not injected with growth hormones or pumped full of toxins that allow manufacturers to get “more bang for their buck” when it comes to selling their produce per kilo. When you pluck a vegetable from the land and you eat it right away, you are allowing your body to benefit from the rich nutrients, vitamins and minerals that all fruits and vegetable contain because there is no lengthy production or storage process to go through, which can cause their natural goodness to deteriorate quickly.
Conclusion
Choosing to purchase and consume organic food gives you the opportunity to partake in conscious living and contribute to a sustainable eco-system that is unfortunately so rapidly weakening with the current commercial farming practices. And there is certainly no lack of evidence from documentaries and media coverage that those who eat organic produce have dramatically improved their overall health and wellbeing. It has been said that it is entirely possible to heal yourself from the inside out, simply by changing your diet and being more conscious of where the foods you are eating come from and what they contain (although concrete evidence is still lacking with regards to drawing a firm conclusion as to whether organic food is actually better for your health). If you are in doubt about whether going organic is worth it, take a moment to consider all of the points mentioned in this article and decide if you are happy with potentially exposing yourself to ingesting toxins each day, or if you would rather get back to basics and follow a more wholesome and natural way of life.
Peer reviewed sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5345585/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24349282
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5658984/
Weight Loss and Fitness Holidays
Do you feel like you could benefit from a weight loss and fitness holiday? A relaxing retreat in gorgeous surroundings concentrating on your health and well-being, with a focus on organic food, Fresh Start Thailand Fitness Bootcamp could be just the ticket. Our organic on-site farm brings luscious produce direct from farm to table and our farm only adheres to strict organic farming practices.
