Health
Benefits of Organic Food
In
general, organic food consumers, manufacturers, and farmers strongly believe
that organic food has the following benefits compared to conventional food.
Antioxidant Capacity
A
number of studies have been completed regarding the effects of antioxidants derived from organic foods on your overall health, and the
predominant results have shown that antioxidants tend to have more of an impact
when they come from organic foods. This may be due to the fact that foreign
chemicals are not negatively interacting with the different vitamins, minerals,
and organic compounds that are so essential for the positive impact of fruits
and vegetables
in the prevention of things like cancer, heart disease, premature aging, vision
problems, and cognitive malfunction. Recent research suggests that choosing organic food can lead to increased
intake of nutritionally desirable antioxidants and reduced exposure to toxic
heavy metals.
Pesticide Reduction
One of the major complaints that organic food consumers cite
when choosing organic over non-organic is the presence of pesticides. In order to keep crops
from being attacked by the natural world, including bugs, pesticides are
required. Although they do a good job keeping certain pests away from the
crops, they also are composed of powerful chemicals like organophosphorus. This
is an unnatural mineral compound that is not required by humans, but more than
80% of this material in our bodies comes from eating pesticide-coated foods.
Organophosphorus has been connected to a number of developmental problems,
including autism and ADHD, so those organic food
lovers do have a pretty strong argument in this case. To be fair, many people
do choose to go organic to make sure that their children grow up healthy and
unaffected by the toxins of the world during their developmental years.
Increased amount of time grazing on grass also increases the
amounts of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)
that can be found in the animal products. CLA is a heart-healthy fatty acid
that can boost cardiovascular protection, and it is found in higher quantities
in breast milk and in meat
for animals that have been raised free range or cage-free.
In recent decades, one of the biggest projects for farmers
and food growers has been genetic modification.
Making tomatoes six times larger might sound like a possible option for solving
some world hunger issues, but there is
another side to it. Genetic modification is still in its early stages, so the
long-term effects of it on human health aren’t understood as well as we would
like. In animal testing genetically modified food showed a major reduction in
immune system strength, an increase in birth mortality, as well as in certain
sexual dysfunctions, cancers, and sensitivity to allergens. Although there are
some good things about genetically modified food, organic food advocates point
to the lack of concrete details about the long-term effects.
Antibiotic Resistance
People are very sensitive to issues of their health, and they
often take precautions to make sure they remain healthy, like getting various
vaccines and taking antibiotics as soon as a new strain of bacteria makes them
ill. However, non-organic food sources, particularly livestock and feed houses,
also use antibiotics to feed their animals. This extra dose of antibiotics may
actually be weakening our immune system by basically overdosing on antibiotics,
thereby reshaping our immune system so many times that it will eventually be
unable to defend itself. Organic food growers and dairy farmers do not use
antibiotics in their processes.
Overall Health
Since organic food is not prepared using chemical
fertilizers, it does not contain any traces of these strong
chemicals and might not affect the human body in negative ways. Natural
fertilizers, like manure, work perfectly fine, and organic farmers are happy to
use this smellier, yet safer, form of fertilizer.
Better Taste
Some people strongly believe that organic food tastes better
than conventional food. The prominent reason for this belief is that it is
produced using organic means of production. Furthermore, organic food is often
sold locally, resulting in availability of fresh produce in the market, which
usually does taste better than produce that has been frozen, shipped, and
transported across long distances.
Environmental Safety
As harmful chemicals are not used in organic farming, there
is minimal soil, air and water pollution; thus ensuring a safer and healthier
world for future generations to live in.
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