Organic Food: Vital for Good health, or a Waste of Money?

When foods are referred to as ‘organic’ it means they have been produced without the assistance of any artificial pesticides, fertilisers, antibiotics, hormones or chemicals. And that they’re not genetically modified. As far as pre-packaged foods are concerned they must not contain any artificial additives at all, in order to be labeled organic. The ingredients that they are made from must also be organic. But is organic food really better for you?

As well as being better for your health, organically grown crops are much better for the environment as they use natural fertilisers like manure to nourish the plants. Because of this, organic farming methods tend to improve soil quality rather than deplete it.

How else is organic food beneficial to health?

Studies consistently show that organic produce in general contains much higher levels of antioxidants, as well as micronutrients such as vitamin C, zinc and iron.

In fact, antioxidant levels can be as much as 69% higher in these foods.

There was one study which discovered organically grown berries and corn contained 58% more antioxidants and as much as 52% more vitamin C.

So this is well worth bearing in mind.  You could be looking at eating the equivalent of 1-2 extra portions of fruit and veg, if you choose organic options!

How can this happen?

Organic plants don’t rely on artificial pesticides for protection. Instead, they produce more of their own protective compounds – antioxidants. All this goodness then gets passed onto us.

Although some studies show that organic food isn’t necessarily better than non-organic, and that there’s no benefit to eating organic at all, these studies tend to look at how harmful one pesticide or chemical is, in isolation. The thing which hasn’t been fully studied is the cumulative effect of all the chemical fertilisers, antibiotics and so on.  They’ll usually show up as safe in trials – but that’s when they only test one in isolation.  If you’re eating several different foods in a meal – by and large you will be – who knows what the effect of all the pesticides mixed together will be.

If you’re worried your diet is impacting your gut health, I’d highly recommend downloading my online course The Ultimate Gut Health Programme to help support both your digestive sysem and hormone health, whilst avoiding triggering symptoms.

It’d be impossible to include all you need to know in one blog, but the programme will have all you need to know to ensure you’re soothing your digestive system, whilst eating delicious and filling foods.

How about organic dairy?

One food group I’d definitely recommend buying organic is milk and dairy (if you tolerate it)

Not only do organic dairy products and meats contain higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, they’re also higher in micronutrients such as vitamin E and iron.

A diet rich in omega-3 fats is associated with a huge array of health benefits, including improved cardiovascular health and less inflammation.

Watch out for ‘organic’ processed food

Pre-packaged, processed food and fizzy drinks are not ideal, whether they’re labelled ‘organic’ or otherwise. These foods tend to be very high in sugar. Organic sugar is still sugar and has the same effect on the body as any other type of sugar. They’re also likely to be high in trans-fats and salt.

On the plus side though, if you do occasionally choose to eat these foods you can be sure they don’t contain any chemicals or additives.