The Health Benefits of Eating Organic

The benefits of maintaining an “organic” versus “non-organic” lifestyle are not often disputed. However, when challenged with the question ‘why should I eat organic’ the argument often falls short at ‘because it’s better for you’. Choosing to live organically with foods, health and beauty products, household cleaning products, and home gardening techniques has multiple benefits for your body, our environment, and future generations.

The definition of organic as defined by the Organic Trade Association (OTA) includes the statement, “The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people." Optimizing health includes providing food that contains the highest nutritional content available. Organic versus non-organic food has been analyzed in numerous studies for the nutritional content of its vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants. A variety of vegetables, fruits, meats, and cheeses have been researched and overwhelmingly, organic foods have been determined to have a higher nutritional content than the same type of non-organic food. Research has shown higher vitamin c levels ranging from 22-39%, higher antioxidant levels, increased essential fatty acid content in meats and cheese, higher content of essential minerals, and increased levels of multiple other vitamins. The USDA Food Guide Pyramid has increased its recommendations for fruits and vegetables from 5 a day to the current 9 a day. The benefits and nutrition required from fruits and vegetables to sustain a healthy lifestyle has increased nearly double. Is this because we need more, or nutritionally we are being provided with less? To assure optimized health and provide both essential and non-essential nutrients necessary for adequate function, organic foods are nutritionally superior to their non-organic counterparts.

In addition to the nutritional benefits that increase health, living organic also decreases exposure to chemicals that can cause a decline in health or create future health issues. The synthetic chemicals used in pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers are contained in the food they are used on. As we eat that food we ingest these harsh chemical constituents. Accumulation of chemicals causes us to dramatically increase our body’s toxic burden. We are continually exposed to unnatural environmental toxins throughout the day in our air, work place, water, and homes. If we can decrease part of our toxin burden by controlling the type of food and therefore the type of toxins we ingest, our toxin burden is decreased. Without the accumulation of excess toxic burden, organic living becomes a method of disease prevention.

Living organic also supports a cleaner, more natural environment. The OTA definition of ‘organic’ also states, “Organic agriculture practices cannot ensure that products are completely free of residues; however, methods are used to minimize pollution from air, soil and water.” Many of the chemicals used in agriculture take several lifetimes to breakdown or to become undetectable. The higher amounts of pesticides and chemicals used cause an ever-increasing accumulation in our soil, air, and water that will affect the environment for several decades. An article written in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (May 2000) states, “Planting a garden in ground heavily treated with chlordane 38 years earlier, scientists found chlordane residues in all 12 vegetables planted, including lettuce, zucchini, potatoes and carrots. Although the residues were all within safe tolerance limits established by the government, the American Chemical Society has warned that chlordane can accumulate in the human body and lead to digestive and nervous system disorders”. When we find more health conditions associated with chemicals used in agriculture, the damage will not be able to be undone. Many of these chemicals are potent substances designed to be effective for a significant amount of time, and unfortunately here to stay. However, by supporting organic agriculture, and organic based products less of these chemicals are being put into our environment.

The good news is that organic products are much more widely available in mainstream grocery stores than ever before. However, if you are not always able to buy organic there are certain foods that you should avoid because of their heavy pesticide residues. Non-organic dairy products should be avoided due to their high amounts of chemical residue and the use of antibiotics on the animals, as well as a list of 12 produce items that have been deemed, “The Dirty Dozen”. The Dirty Dozen are the top 12 fruits and vegetables that have been found to be the most contaminated or heavily sprayed with synthetic chemicals. Please see the table below.

Committing to a lifestyle that focuses on synthetic chemical-free living and using organic based products can be a little more costly and time consuming. However, the money, time, and effort you spend now will reward you, your children, and generations to come. Think of it has a long-term investment plan in your health, our environment, and those who have yet to live here.