Buying Organic? Good or Bad?

I was recently at a family/friend party where everyone was catching up and chatting about life. I couldn’t help but notice the amazing spread of food my mother had prepared (per usual). I consider her pretty health conscious so I was super surprised when I saw healthy food.  I was however caught off guard when EVERYONE else was too!  Before we ate I heard a few people say, “the  paelo options are over here, and we have vegan here, and gluten free there.” Then a huge applause came after everyone noticed they could eat according to their diets! I couldn’t help but chuckle. While I was VERY happy that everyone was so aware of what they were eating, I was just very curious as to WHY. Why are you choosing to eat this way? Was it because you read about it online? Did you get a blood test telling you are intolerant to gluten? Are you trying to stop bloating?

While everyone may have a different reason as to why they eat a certain way, I thought I’d give my two sense on eating ORGANIC. I could go into every “diet fad” out there right now, but I’m sure you have better things to do besides read a novel. I’ll save it for next time..

Let’s talk about eating organic and  if it’s REALLY that much better for you!?

What does Organic food mean? Do you know? Many don’t.. so I’ll explain. 

While organic foods do not contain more vitamins or minerals than non organic food, it does have it’s perks.

-Organic food typically (yes, typically but not always), has less pesticides and hormones than non organic food. They will still contain some pesticides.

– Organic fruits and veggies usually don’t last as long because they are more fresh and don’t have added preservatives.

-Organic farms are better for the environment because they don’t use harmful chemicals that hurt the earth.

-Organic meats and eggs (the one thing I make sure to always buy) are typically raised with no added hormones, animal byproducts and antibiotics. In my eyes, this is a big one! You need to make sure the food your eating was also eating well.

-Organic food does not always mean that is isn’t genetically modified. That is another label. Check the packaging to see if a food is NON GMO.

-When a product says “organic” it is usually not 100% organic. A food that is just labeled “organic” may not even be 60% organic. However, if you see the USDA label on a package, the product should be 95% or more organic (still not 100%) and “certified organic” foods are 70% organic. So you never really know just how “organic” your food really is..

While what I’m saying isn’t to scare you, it’s to get you thinking. Yes, I am a big believer in buying organic BUT do I think what I’m buying is 100% organic. Absolutely not. I do think it can be better than buying certain non organic items. Foods with thicker skins (like bananas, grapefruit, oranges, etc) are fine to buy non organic because it’s harder for the pesticdes to seep into the actual fruit. Foods with thinner skins you might want to buy organic such as berries.

While there are many different ways of eating out there right now, one thing is for sure… foods you grow are much better for you than food like products from a box. Which ever “diet” you are thinking of trying, just try eating WHOLE foods and see what happens first. Whole foods are much better for you than fad diets.

In good health,

Cristina