Organic food has become very popular these days. Organic diet is produced by complying standard methods of organic farming. It promotes ecological balance and conserves biodiversity. Agencies that involve in organic farming are restricted to use of certain chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Organic Foods that are claimed to be organic must be free from artificial food additives. Organic produce must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, and sewage sludge-based fertilizers.
Though more expensive, organic health products taste better. And it also reduces the amount of cancer-causing chemicals that enter your body. How you produce your food can have a major impact on your health and environment. Some studies showed that the use of pesticides even at low doses can increase the risk of certain cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
Organic food often contains more beneficial nutrients, antioxidants than the conventionally grown counterparts.
There are plenty of good reasons why you should buy organic food. Here are just a few:
1. Organic meat produces from healthier grass-feed animals:
Organic meat thus produced is ensured to have been healthy stuff. Because organic food producer is abide by law not to use antibiotics indiscriminately to treat an illness. Animals are being raised in more healthy conditions. And healthier animals are less prone to illness and disease. American Heart Association opined that consuming saturated fat from any source increases the risk of heart disease. But nutrition experts maintain that eating organic grass-fed meat and organic dairy products do not pose the same risks as saturated fat.
2. Buy organic food to raise protests:
By buying organic food, you’re accepting the fact that you care about what you’re eating for your good health. Indeed, all that perfectly grown produce and those full-sized chicken breasts look enticing at the cost of growth hormones, genetic engineering, and an abundance of pesticides and fertilizers. When enough people buy organic, and more are making the switch every day, food companies will be forced to listen to consumers.
3. Something you can do to protect the Environment:
Probably you’re aware that harmful chemicals are going into the fields to produce the fruits and vegetables you eat contaminate soil and water. When you choose foods that are produced without these cancer-causing chemicals, you are not adding to this problem.
4. Organic produce contains fewer Pesticides:
Chemicals such as fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides are widely used in conventional method of cultivation and produce harmful byproducts and residues on the food we eat. The American Cancer Society recommends that thoroughly washing of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables can check the adverse health effects of pesticide to some extent.
5. Organic cultivation is more Environments Friendly:
Organic farming can reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility etc. Farming without pesticides is beneficial to environment and human health.
6. Organically raised animals are free from Antibiotics, Growth hormones, or Animal Byproducts:
Feeding livestock animal byproducts can increase the risk of mad cow disease and the use of antibiotics can create antibiotic-resistant strains.
7. Organic Meat and Milk are richer in Nutrients:
A 2016 European study shows that certain beneficial nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids etc are up to 50 percent higher in organic meat and milk than in conventionally raised counterparts.
8. Organic Diet is GMO-free:
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) foods are plants whose DNA has been altered in ways that cannot occur in nature in order to be resistant to pesticides or produce an insecticide.
Children and fetuses are most vulnerable to pesticide exposure. This exposure at an early age may cause developmental delays, behavioral disorders, autism, immune system harm etc. Pregnant women are also more vulnerable to pesticides. Plus, pesticides can be passed from mother to child in the womb, as well as through breast milk.
However, if you’re not able to reach organic foods or organic diet, what you can at least do is to follow some health guidelines to minimize the harmful effects of pesticides. Below are some fruits and vegetable with high level and low level of pesticides:
According to the Environment Working Group, the following conventionally grown fruits and vegetable contain the highest level of pesticides and should be avoided by adapting to organic foods. These are apples, cucumbers, celery, potatoes, grapes, collard greens, summer squash, sweet bell peppers, spinach, peaches, strawberries, cherry tomatoes etc.
Clean 15 Vegetables and fruits that are grown conventionally contain low in pesticides and that you need not buy them organic. They are onion, cabbage, sweet corn, papaya, sweet potatoes, grapefruits, mushroom, avocado, asparagus, sweet peas, mango, eggplant, kiwi, pineapple etc.