Organic food gained much popularity a few decades ago, and we often hear about eating organic food. The most basic question is what makes organic food different from commonly used food. The answer is that organic food is grown naturally without using harsh chemicals such as fertilizer and pesticides.
Organic foods can easily be found in nearby grocery stores. However, it might cost a bit high as compared to regular food. The cost is justified by the powerful benefits it can bring to your body and health. Organic foods are richer in nutrients and antioxidants as compared to regular food.
Benefits of Eating Organic Food
Organic food is booming certainly because people are getting more awareness about its benefits to health and well-being. The consumption of organic food also helps in reducing the health hazards from ingesting chemical residue. It also offers more nutrition as compared to regular food. Let us find out how it is healthy in other ways.
1. Least Effect Of Pesticides And Heavy Metals
In comparison to regular food, there is one thing for sure that can be said about organic food: it has the least use of pesticides and other harsh chemicals. Nowadays, strong chemicals are used as pesticides and fertilizers to increase production.
Such pesticides and fertilizers are left over the surface of food as chemical residue. The intake of chemical residue is seriously injurious to health in many ways. It is believed to be carcinogenic in nature, it can trigger mood disorders in children, and it may even result in developmental delays in infants. All these facts are well supported by researchers.
2. Free From Antibiotics And Synthetic Hormones
The conventional livestock and poultry are injected with antibiotics to keep them safe from illnesses. It allows farmers to grow livestock in any place without worrying about the surrounding environment. Moreover, several types of synthetic hormones are also injected that make livestock grow and mature faster and increase their production of milk.
Some component of it is passed into the consumer upon use. These antibiotics and synthetic hormones are extremely injurious to human health. It can profoundly increase the risk of cancer. Organic food, however, is safer to consume.
3. More Antioxidants
A study found that organic onions are rich in 20% more antioxidants as compared to conventional onions. It justifies the fact that organic food offers more antioxidants in comparison to regular food. Antioxidants help the body in the natural detoxification process.
Bad eating and drinking habits such as alcoholism and drug abuse require detoxification of the body in order to replenish lost minerals and vitamins. Detoxification is among the initial steps of treating such problems. In addition to drug detox, the body might need psychological therapy to overcome addiction.
4. More Healthy Fats
Studies have revealed that organic meat and milk has about 50% more unsaturated fatty acid, Omega-3, as compared to conventional milk. Nonetheless, organic milk has a low ratio of saturated fats in comparison to commonly used milk. The reason behind this is the difference between raising and growing livestock.
Therefore switching to use organic milk and meat will provide the consumer with a greater amount of omega-3 fatty acids than that of using regular milk and meat. Consumers not only get more healthy fats in the form of omega-3 fatty acids without increasing saturated fats.
5. Better Flavor
Organic food offers more flavor as compared to conventional food. Suppose you are looking to switch to organic food; the first thing you will notice is a comparable difference in the taste and flavor of food. In addition to providing more nutrients to the body, organic food also tastes better.
6. GMOs
Organic food is 100% natural. When you eat organic food, it means it is free from GMOs. GMO means that something produced by using genetic engineering could be seeds used to grow crops, it could be animal feed used to feed livestock, and it could possibly be a new breed by crossing two other species.
Organic food farmers and producers make sure that GMOs are not used anywhere in the process, whether it is crop or livestock. The USDA regulations also suggest that organic foods should be free from GMOs.
7. Better Health
Organic food is available both in raw as well as packaged form. However, whether the food is raw or packaged, it is for sure that organic food is more natural and offers more health benefits. When it comes to organic packaged food, fewer than 40 synthetic ingredients are allowed to be used in the manufacturing process.
Even the synthetic ingredients should also be reviewed and analyzed by the government and independent experts. It does not end here; organic processed food is also free from added colors, preservatives, and artificial flavors. All of it combined together ensures better and elevated health.
8. Soil Health
Organic food, in addition to humans, is also beneficial for the environment in a variety of ways. Most importantly, it significantly creates better and healthy soil.
Organic farming is all about making sure that only organic fertilizers and organic soil amendments are used. It makes soil healthy, and the crop grown in healthy soil has a greater tendency to resist disease, insects and deal with drought.
9. Pollinators
Recent studies have shown that organic farming benefits pollinators, and it is least injurious to bees and other wildlife. It supports the health of pollinators as they are less exposed to harsh chemicals in organic farming techniques. However, the conventional and chemical-intensive farming technique is very dangerous to biodiversity and natural resources.
Take Away
Organic food is comparatively expensive than conventional food, but the cost is justified by the benefits it offers. There is a lot of research going on these days to see how organic food and farming is better than conventional food and farming. Researchers are finding convincing evidence that supports the superiority of organic food over conventional food.
