Woman's Health
3 Reasons To Eat Organic
Most people have heard of organic food and can even find some now in there local grocer. However, it is often a misunderstood item thought to be just more expensive and trendy. It is crucial to understand what makes organic food different and how this can be a powerful influence on health.
Organic & SoilWe will start by first understanding how non-organic food is grown. Most farming practices are designed to maximize crop output in the shortest period of time. This improves profitability for the farmer and ensures ample supply of food products at inexpensive costs for the consumer. To do this, farms will grow the same crop continually on the same fields. Over time the plant’s nutritional demands for growth deplete the soil of vital nutrients. This leads to less hardy crops more prone to infestation of pests and weeds. To combat this heavy application of pesticide and herbicide is used. We end up with a crop that is contaminated with chemicals (herbicides and pesticides) and has a significantly lower nutritional value due to the depleted nutrient content of the soil. After many years of this type of farming, the soil will become so depleted that massive amounts of nitrogen will have to be added in order to grow anything. This nitrogen will then run off into our rivers and streams and pollute our lakes and oceans causing harmful algae blooms that choke off sea life. Organic farming is conducted in way that respects the needs of the plants the earth that nurtures the plants. In order to prevent the depletion of nutrients in the soil, organic farmers rotate their crops. One year a field will grow corn which depletes the soil of certain nutrients, and the next that field will grow a crop like beans that replenish the soil with nutrients. Some years that field will also be left to lay fallow and grow no harvestable crops at all. We can see how this reduces out of goods, but preserves the fields for use in later years. It also eliminates the need for heavy nitrogen use which preserves our precious water supplies. This process not only saves our Earth, but also produces much healthier crops that are less likely to become susceptible to infestation of bugs or weeds. When an organic farmer needs to deal with an infestation issue he/she uses all natural (no chemicals) practices to remedy the situation. All certified organic produce is grown without the use of any herbicides or pesticides. Organic & NutritionThe end product is a more nutritious crop (organic tomatoes have been shown to have 5-10x the vitamins and minerals than non-organic tomatoes) free of toxic pesticides and herbicides. We also preserve the vitality of the soil and greatly reduce pollution. The toxicity of many herbicides and pesticides is well known. These products have been shown to have many detrimental effects one of the most concerning is how they are able to mimic estrogen. In women this might partly explain the growing epidemic of breast cancer. It is well known that estrogen will stimulate certain types of breast cancer to grow very rapidly. It is possible that the prevalent exposure to excess estrogen like compounds from pesticides stimulate breast cancers to develop more rapidly and more aggressively. Cancer occurs in our bodies on a regular basis, but our immune system is able to prevent it from becoming a problem. However, un-natural stimulation of these 1-2 cell cancers by estrogen like compounds may over power our immune systems capability of controlling it. Organic & HormoneWomen are not the only ones who can be affected by excess estrogen. Men have seen a dramatic decline in sperm count over the last 50 years. It is wildly thought that this is a direct result of the excess chemical in our environment that exert estrogen like effects. There is also a strong possibility that the rise in prostate cancer is also related to these hormonal imbalances being created by i |