Eat Better: The Health Benefits of Organic Foods |
Eat Better: The Health Benefits of Organic Foods
Organic foods have become easier and easier to obtain in recent years. Still, many consumers wonder if this type of food is healthy enough to be worth the often extra cost. Many of the benefits of organic foods have come to consumers through word of mouth and the promotions put on by advocates of organic eating. Fortunately, there has been research and several solid arguments supporting the use of organic foods in everyday eating.
Several recent studies on farms which produce organic foods determined that organic farms don’t release synthetic pesticides into the ground, the air and, most importantly, the water table. Some of the inorganic, chemical pesticides are known to be harmful to wildlife and other animals. Organic farms also are superior to conventional farms when it comes to maintaining surrounding natural ecosystems. This includes, maintaining healthy populations of natural plants, insects and indigenous animals. They also rotate crops more often to maintain a healthy soil.
When researchers calculated the energy use per unit area or per unit of yield of organic food-producing farms, it was found that organic farms used less energy and generated less packaging and chemical waste than conventional produce farms. The yield in organic produce farms is about 20 percent less when those farms used half the fertilizer and 97 percent less pesticide than conventional farming. Others feel that organically-used soil is of a higher quality and maintains higher water retention than farms that raise produce conventionally. This factor may improve the yield of organic farms during years when rainfall is less than average.
In one study on organic farming techniques, a comparison of an organic farm and a conventional farm during a drought season, the yields of soybeans were between 50 and 90 percent better than the regular farms. Organic corn yields were mixed but, on average, the farms were on par with conventional farms.
Consider the risk of pesticide exposure on farm workers. Farm workers on organic farms are spared the health risks of being exposed to pesticides, which are great, even when used correctly. Pesticides made from organophosphates, in particular, can cause serious acute health problems with over-exposure. Long term exposure, unfortunately, is associated with breathing problems, memory problems, skin conditions, cancer, miscarriages and birth defects.
To make matters worse, those who eat food not grown in an organic fashion can be exposed to both pesticides and herbicides that remain on the food. This is why all produce from conventional farms should be washed carefully. Exposure to certain herbicides is known to cause birth defects, even in small doses. Sadly, one recent study showed that the greatest source of pesticides in babies is through the dietary consumption of food not grown in an organic fashion.
On a happier note, another study found that a group of children who were switched from a regular diet to an organic diet dramatically reduced their levels or organophosphate pesticide exposure. In addition, studies have shown that organic food actually tastes better in taste tests than conventional food.
If you want to keep your family as healthy as possible, consider making the switch to organic foods. The benefits to the environment and likely to your family’s health are considerable.
|
Are they Worth It? Arguments against Organic Foods On any day at the supermarket, consumers have the option of buying ... read more
Decades of Change: The History of Organic Farming Fifteen years ago, you may have had a hard time finding an ... read more
A Healthy World: International Trends in Organic Farming There has been much talk in recent years about the global environment ... read more
Wear Wholesome Clothing with Organic Cotton In today’s times, almost everything you buy contains some sort of synthetic fiber like ... read more
USDA Organic? What the Heck is that? We’ve all seen those little labels, all those letters squeezed in to a ... read more
How do I Know if My Silk is Organic? As silk is made by an organic process, the spinning of ... read more
Understanding the High Cost of Organic Clothing Many people interested in “going organic” and purchasing only organic clothing become dismayed ... read more
Organic Clothing and Our Environment Few of us would connect the idea of organic clothing with the Earth’s environment and ... read more
Taste Hot and Delicious Organic Coffee Coffee drinkers everywhere now have the option of forgoing their ordinary cup of coffee ... read more
The Health Benefits of Organic Meat Organic meat differs from regular meat in the way the animal farmer raised the ... read more
Look Lovely with Organic Skin Care Products Many people might wonder why they should turn to organic skin care products. ... read more
The Beauty of the Perfect Cup of Organic Tea As our world becomes more and more filled with plastic waste, ... read more
Treat Your Garden Right with Organic Pesticides What gardener doesn’t want to rid his or her garden of all those ... read more
Organic Milk: Is it Worth It? Organic milk producers are quick to tell you that their milk is delicious and ... read more
What makes Organic Make Up Better? Most organic make up producers take special pride in providing you with organically-based cosmetics ... read more
Keep your Dog Happy With Organic Dog Food It’s safe to say that Westerners are crazy about their dogs and ... read more
Handy Organic Ant Control for your Home It’s a fact of life, unless you live in Antarctica, that pests will ... read more
Safer Methods: Using Organic Pest Control for Roaches and Mites It’s safe to say that most of us would like ... read more
Those Nasty Mosquitoes: Organic Ways to Keep them at Bay What would warm weather and picnics be without mosquitoes? For ... read more
Fly Away Flies: Organic Repellents for Flies and Moths Flies have probably been on this earth for longer than humans ... read more
Stamp out Fleas with Organic Pest Control What pet owner hasn’t worried once or twice that their beloved pet had ... read more
Eat Healthy with Organic Foods When you go to the grocery store or supermarket to buy fruits or vegetables, do ... read more
Eat Better: The Health Benefits of Organic Foods Organic foods have become easier and easier to obtain in recent years. ... read more
Do It Yourself....Organic Composting More and more families have made the ecological decision to stop putting their organic refuse in ... read more
Go Natural with Organic Gardening! Have you noticed that the "organic" section of your grocery store has grown exponentially in ... read more
|
|
|
Disclaimer:
The Publisher has strived to be as accurate and complete as possible in
the creation of this website, notwithstanding the fact that he does not
warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate
due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet.
This site
is a common sense guide to Eat Better: The Health Benefits of Organic Foods. In practical advice websites,
like anything else in life, there are no guarantees of income made.
Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their
individual circumstances to act accordingly.
This site
is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or
financial advice. All readers are advised to seek services of competent
professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field.
Any
perceived slights of specific people or organizations are unintentional.
|