The Importance of Organic

The importance of Organic

Buying organic food DOES matter! And is worth creating a healthy habit and understanding about this critical piece. I can’t stress how important the commitment to bringing organic foods into your home is. Conventionally grown foods are laden with chemicals and is not an action that supports the health of the land. Organic foods help improve mood and brain function, improve arthritis, skin, and pain disorders, mostly just by eliminating the chemicals in your food! Chemical toxins are equally as important to keep out of the diet. Plants are powerful biochemical wonders, and will respond to its environment as necessary which is a benefit to you later on. Food crops that are poisoned with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicide with leave residues that stay on crops and influence the internal chemical structure of the food.

Do not sell yourself short by thinking your wallet will benefit from avoiding organic foods because your body will take the hit. Organic = more nutritious, no if, and, or buts about it. You need the plant-based chemicals to heal you, create shifts in your cells, and even alter how your genes are expressed. Organic foods consistently have fewer pesticide residues, fungal toxins, and chemical fertilizers like nitrates. Organic foods taste better and you get to vote for the way we grow food with your dollar! What could be better.

When you buy organic you naturally avoid GMO crops which are harmful to the digestive tract. For example: a GMO corn has gene has replaced with Bt toxin. Bt is specifically designed to destroy the digestive linings of bugs or pests that eat the corn. You are also a pest to the corn. This Bt gene will create tiny holes in your intestinal lining too, further damaging the gut.

In addition to buy organic it is important to buy locally and seasonally. This ensures that you are getting the very freshest and highest potential nutrients from your foods. It also allows you to make contact with the grower of your food, building trust, compassion, and love for the land and those who work so hard to grow the food. By going to the farmers market each week you will begin to get a sense of what fruits and vegetables are available seasonally. Each season has its own medicine and the food that is available follows suit. For example: the Spring is the time of the liver, a time to detox and reawaken after the winter months. In the Spring, there is an abundance of spicy and pungent greens, perfect for detoxification and cleaning out the organs and preparing for the new. In the fall, it’s the time of the spleen, we invite sweetness into our hearts and bodies as we get ready to celebrate with family and there is a lessening of the light. In the season of fall, there is an abundance of sweet winter squash, beets, roots, etc. perfect for keep us sweet as we move into the darker part of the year. Here in California we have an abundance of affordable, local food! Or best, try growing a garden, no patio is too small!

 

Dirty Dozen   The Most Sprayed Crops	Clean 15 These are the fruits and veggies that you can eat conventionally because they are not sprayed as heavily with pesticides
Apples Celery Tomatoes Cucumbers Grapes Nectarines Peaches Potatoes Spinach Strawberries Blueberries Sweet Bell Peppers Also: Green beans and kale are moving up on the most sprayed list as well.	Onions Avocado Sweet Corn (watch for GMO) Pineapple Mango Sweet Peas Eggplant Cauliflower Asparagus Kiwi Cabbage Watermelon Grapefruit Sweet Potatoes Honeydew Melon