Eating Organic

I, like many of you are always in the pursuit of more knowledge and skills in the area of nutrition, and eating organic foods is definitely part of that equation. Today I was reading a great article in Men's Health that describes a lot about what "organic" really means, what the positives are about eating organic foods as well as the negatives about traditionally grown foods. I encourage you to pick up this article at some point, but here are some highlights:

What is organic? "Products given the USDA Organic stamp of approval must be made up of at least 95% percent organically produced ingredients...Any food labeled USDA Organic was grown without the aid of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge, and without pesticides disallowed for organic agriculture by the USDA. If it's meat, the animal was raised without antibiotics and growth hormones and fed and organic diet."

What does "Natural" mean? "Foods labeled "natural" aren't necessarily organic...no official standards legally define "natural" for producers or consumers. Nevertheless, the term often refers to foods with no preservatives or artificial ingredients...There is no independent confirmation of that--it's just a word that can be used on any food label."

Pro's of eating organic include cutting your risk of diabetes, decreasing global warming, reducing the chances your children will be autistic, saving the oceans from dead zones, building more muscle and burning fat, increasing your chances of fathering healthy chilidren, and more.

Here are some other facts: "Studies show that some organic foods have more diesease-fighting antioxidants than chemically farmed foods do." Also, pesticides aren't great for you, but that shouldn't be a surprise. As the article explains, "exposure to some widely used pesticides...can damage nerve cells and deplete your brain's supply of the feel-good chemical dopamine. This could potentially lead to Parkinson's desease..." Among other minuses, pesticides may lower your sperm count, cause cancer, may cause you to develop allergies, weaken your immune system, and there are many other named and unnamed minuses. Why risk it? Doesn't this make sense, though? We weren't meant to eat poison, were we? Sounds simple, but this is the basic logic that should guide you to pull out those extra couple dollars and make an investment in your health. Don't take it from me, and don't believe these quotes from the article if you don't want to or have doubts. What you should do is poke around on the web and/or in the library or bookstore for yourself, do your own research, and learn what to eat and put inside your body and get the most out of your nutrition. I encourage you to please also comment below and/or contact me with some of your gained knowledge to help me and others out in our collective quest toward better health. Thanks for reading everyone!

-note: all quotations and other content in this article were taken from the April 2010 Men's Health Magazine, from the article "15 Ways to Change The World One Apple At A Time" by Maria Rodale