There has been an ongoing argument between the organic food eaters, and the commercial food eaters. Do eating organic foods really make that big of a difference? This blog will provide you with a few truths of GMO foods, and a few tips if you choose to start buying organic foods.
First, let’s go over the actually definition of organic, and GMOs.
Organic: relating to, yielding, or involving use of food produced with use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics or pesticides.
GMO (Genetically modified organisms): genes altered by the insertion of a modified gene or a gene from another organism using techniques of genetic engineering
Here are some facts. The U.S uses 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides a year, and only .01% of that actually reaches the bugs. The rest of the pesticides end up in our food, our water, and our air. This can then cause health risks such as hormone disruption, brain and nervous system toxicity, cancer, blood disorders, reproductive effects, and skin, eye, and lung irritation just to name a few. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” is the famous saying right? Well 56 pesticides can be found on one single non organic apple. I’m not sure how safe that is to eat! Think of it this way. Round Up pokes small holes in the gut of insects. What do you think it does to a human gut over time? Ever heard of leaky gut, irritable bowel syndrome, or auto immune disease? Those are some hints.
As for the transgenic foods, unintended DNA changes occur in our bodies when consumed. This is when “you are what you eat” starts to have a literal meaning. With anything we eat, a transfer from the DNA of the food consumed to the DNA of our gut bacteria takes place. The new DNA from these foods gets into our cells, and literally starts to change our actual DNA. So really, don’t you want to know what’s in the food you, or your growing kids are eating?
Okay, don’t stress… I know that all sounds scary and maybe overwhelming. The first step is to be aware of all of this. From there, just make small changes towards organic foods. You don’t have to go buy a farm or anything right now. I’m going to give you some pointers on how to start slow.
Always look for the label Non-GMO. Anything without that label is almost guaranteed to have GMO’s. “All natural” doesn’t mean GMO free either; companies are tricky with their labeling. I understand organic is much more expensive. You must look at yourself as an investment. The long term health of you and your family are worth every penny. If I can urge you to by anything organic it would be your meat. I mean there is literally Arsenic in the feed of commercial chickens. These days there are many websites and organizations making it convenient to find local farms for real organic meat. For produce, I have a list of the Clean Fifteen, and the Dirty Dozen. The Clean Fifteen is a list of foods that have the least amount of pesticides on them even when they are not organic. The Dirty Dozen is a list of foods that contain the most pesticides on them even after being properly washed.
Dirty Dozen – vs – Clean 15
