What is organic food? Do you know what it really means? What are the advantages of eating organic food?Any food or product that comes from organic farming is free from pesticides, artificial additives, drugs, growth hormones and other chemicals.
One does not need to say that all these substances can cause harm and damage to the body and to the environment. Some of them are linked to diseases such as cancer, obesity, birth defects, Alzheimer and diabetes.
In the recent past Type 2 diabetes was called an adult-onset diabetes, because this obesity-related condition was also a problem of the middle-aged and the elderly. It usually takes years of unhealthy eating to tip someone to this type of diabetes. Sadly, today we see Type 2 diabetes in children. Alan Greene, MD, FAAP Clinical Professor, Standord University (Scientific and Technical Advisory Chair, The Organic Center)
The average conventional fruit contains more than 20 pesticides. Scientific evidence shows that pesticides can disrupt the development or functioning of the endocrine system, what predispose a child to face, later in life, the challenges of living with overweight, obesity, and diabetes.
"Exposure to chlorpyrifos (an OP pesticide) during neonatal and fetal periods results in excessive weight gain and leptin dysfunction, leading to impaired regulation of fat tissues and failure to recognize satiety (a sense of fullness during meal times), (Lassier and Brimijoin, 2008)."
Knowing this, would you keep giving that to your family? I do not think so.
Here are some organic facts:
- Organic food is much more rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre and retains the levels of nutrients for much longer
- Your body will be more resistant to diseases as it will have higher levels of the essential nutrients it needs to avoid infection
- You will have more energy as you will ingest less toxins which can slow down your metabolism
- When you opt for organic dairy products you will NOT be ingesting growth hormones, antibiotics and other chemicals given to the animals
- Organic farms respect the environment, not polluting the water and the soil
- Organic farms respect the animals, giving them space to move and feeding them without chemicals or additives
- Organic farms grow a mix of crops and therefore encourage a balanced Ecosystem.
- Locally produced organically grown foods, when is season, can be lower in price than non-organically produced food. Purchase organic foods through a community supported agriculture farm or at a farm stand or farmer´s market.
- A diet consisting of primarily organic foods provides an immediate protective effect against exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides, such as malathion and chlorpyrifos (Curl et al., 2003; Lu et al., 2006; Lu et al., 2008)
- Organic food tastes much better! Compare it and you will be surprised.
- McCullum-Gómez, Christine, Benbrook, Charles, Theuer, Charles That First Step: Organic Food and a healthier Future - The Organic Center
- Organic Food Info.net - Virginia Louise
