The Healthy Scoop

Since the beginning, Mother Nature has been designing and producing these healthy foods for us. However, over the years humans have been adding manmade chemicals to Mother Nature’s design in order to stimulate food crop growth and pesticides to control weeds and bugs. Now it appears that some of those chemicals may be harming the environment and compromising our health.

So, concerned farmers and eaters got together with the USDA and created standards that made it possible for us to go back to Mother Nature’s original plan. What’s the term for this standard? “Organically grown,” which means the food is grown without the use of manmade, synthetic chemicals.

The standards for food that is organically grown are quite strict. That’s great for those of us looking for the healthiest foods possible. USDA certified organically grown foods provide a one-two punch for the health-conscious eater:
1) These foods have the nutrients that nature intended, and...
2) They consistently have the lowest pesticide residue levels when compared to conventionally grown crops.

Organically grown = a great way to get the nutrients you need! In February 2006, the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry published a study showing organically grown foods have higher levels of antioxidant vitamins (example – more Vitamin C) than non-organically grown foods. Some other minerals that may be higher in organic foods are iron, magnesium, and phosphorous (Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine, April, 2001). Other studies are underway to confirm these findings.

Concerned about pesticides in your food?
Scientific studies prove that eating organic foods lowers the levels of pesticides in your body. Lower, or non-existent, levels of pesticide residues on foods (and thus in your system) translates into lower risk levels for disease or illness caused by those chemicals. That can mean a substantial reduction over the course of a lifetime – for adults AND children!

With all of the great health promoting and disease preventing benefits that organically grown foods offer, it makes sense to incorporate them into your eating. Without all those manmade, synthetic chemicals, there’s more room to live A Healthy Way of Life™.

Contributor: Susan Gilbert, MS, Nutritionist
August, 2007