5 Reasons to Include Organic Food in your Diet
Consuming Organic foods have become one of the greatest trends today. Be it organic farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, or dairy products, more and more people are choosing organic foods. Let’s start by understanding what organic foods are and also what are the advantages of consuming organic foods.
What is Organic Food?
The idea of organic foods and organic farming has caught up in the last few years. Organic food is produced by means complying with organic farming. The farming technique restricts the use of fertilizers, pesticides, or genetic modification. Producers need to label their food as organic, and the food must be free from any synthetic food coloring, industrial solvents, preservatives, MSG, and sweeteners.
(Image Source – What’s up Life)
Organic meat, poultry, and dairy products come from animals that have not been fed antibiotics or growth hormones.
Organic farming aims at –
- Cycling resources
- Promoting ecological balance and sustainability
- Conserving biodiversity
Benefits of Organic Foods
Here are the top 5 reasons to include organic food in your diet.
- Rich in Antioxidants
We all know that a diet rich in antioxidants is good for health. Antioxidants fight against disease causing infection and protect against oxidative stress and free radicals. Recent research shows that antioxidant level in organic foods is 69% higher than non-organic foods. It is also proven that antioxidants work far better when they are consumed from organic food sources. This is because foreign chemicals do not negatively interact with different minerals, vitamins, and trace elements.
Antioxidants also help in prevention of cancer, premature ageing, heart ailments, vision problems, and cognitive malfunctions.
- Safe from Pesticides and Harmful Chemicals
One of the major reasons that people make a shift from non-organic food to organic food is due to presence of pesticides and harsh chemicals in non-organic food. Although pesticides do the job of keeping pests away from the crop, but at the same time they are harmful for health. The compounds present in pesticides and fertilizers are not needed by the human body and can cause serious development damage.
In addition to being harmful to human body, these chemicals are also ruining the ecological system causing soil pollution, water pollution, and ecological imbalance. Now it is upto you to decide, whether you want to eat healthy and save the environment, or continue with non-organic foods.
(Source – HungryForever)
- Better Taste
If you are someone used to having packaged and canned food, then this is something for you. Making a shift to organic food will not only be beneficial for your health, it will also make you happier. Organic food tastes far better than non-organic food. Since it is free from any added food additives, colors, preservatives, or chemicals, one can taste the natural taste. Be it farm fresh strawberries, juicy mangoes, or green leafy veggies, choose organic foods for a great taste.
- Antibiotic Resistance
Most of us are sensitive and cautious about our health and believe in prevention. Getting vaccinated and taking antibiotics are the two most common methods to protect yourself from infection. But when you eat non-organic food, especially livestock or poultry items, things can be slightly different. Most feed houses feed their animals antibiotics for greater productivity. The dose of extra antibiotics finally gets into our body and can interfere with our immune system. In worst case scenario, our body will be unable to defend itself. On the other hand, organic food growers do not use antibiotics, thus you are safe from all the side effects of extra antibiotics.
- Increased Energy and Better Immunity
In the recent times, genetic modification of crops has become so popular. Whether it is cross-breeding of two varieties or modification to get better produce, it ultimately has deteriorating effects on human body. The same holds true for genetically modified animal sources as well. It can cause reduction in immune system strength, severity to allergens, cancers, and sexual dysfunctions.
But when you consume organic food, it isn’t genetically modified, so you need not worry at all. Also, research shows that organic food is a lot more nutrient dense as compared to non-organic food. Thus, you get all the essential nutrients and trace elements to give your immunity a boost. A recent study showed that organic foods tend to have higher levels of important micro-nutrients including vitamin C, zinc and iron.
(Source – Good Housekeeping)
Organic Food and the Environment
Consuming organic food is not just good for your body, but also for the environment. Your decision of saying yes to organic foods will give the environment a great relief.
- Plants will remain healthy
Organic plants thrive better because they are supported by organic particles. Also with organic farming there will be no super-insects created by harmful pesticides.
- Animals will remain healthy
Marine life will remain safe from the harsh chemicals and pollutants, no dying birds, or infertile wildlife due to chemical exposure.
- Organic foods supports nature
Organic foods are free from added pesticides, harsh chemicals, and pollutants. Thus, they do not disrupt the harmony of nature.
- Creates sustainable conditions
No top-soil erosion, water pollution due to pesticides, nutrient depletion, clear-cutting and mono-cropping, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
(Source – Robb Report)
Disadvantages of Organic Foods
When we talk about the pros, we must also discuss the cons. Even though the pros would outweigh the cons, but still you must know about the disadvantages of organic foods. So here they are.
- Difficult to Find
The reach of organic foods is limited and they can be difficult to find. You can buy them online or in big supermarkets. But if you are in India in a tier-2 or tier-3 city, you’ll not be able to find organic foods in grocery stores. It is only the metro cities that are slowly catching up to the trend of organic food.
- Can be Expensive
All said and done, in the end, it all rolls down to money. Organic food products can be expensive as compared to their non-organic counterparts.
- Limited Selection
The range of organic foods is still very limited. You can find pulses, vegetables, and dairy products, but there are a lot of food items that you cannot find in the organic food section of the supermarket.
It all matters to your choice. Making a healthy and sustainable choice of organic foods will do a greater good to your health and to the environment as well. If we all make this conscious decision of saying yes to organic food, we can bring a big revolution, and take a step towards sustainable growth.
Author Bio –
Lakshey Bahl is a highly experienced Health & Fitness Nutrition blogger, writes about health, nutrition and fitness topics. He loves to read any book you will hand to him and is willing to spend hours hunting down a ripe avocado. He provides health and nutrition oriented advice also.
