Health Benefits of Organic Foods

Organic food consumers, manufacturers, and farmers strongly believe that organic foods have important benefits compared to non-organic food.  While there are plenty of arguments against the multitude of organic foods as being overpriced in markets, there is no denying that there are some significant benefits to eating organic.

Antioxidants: Studies have shown that antioxidants tend to have a greater impact when they come from organic foods.  This may be because foreign chemicals do not negatively interact with the varying vitamins, minerals, and organic compounds that are essential for the positive impact of fruits and vegetables in the hindrance of things like cancer, heart disease, vision problems, and cognitive breakdowns.

No Pesticides: One of the major benefits of organic foods is the absence of pesticides.  In commercial production farmers use pesticides to keep crops from being attacked by the natural world, namely bugs.  Although they do a good job at keeping certain pests away from the crops, they also contain powerful chemicals like organophosphorus.  This is an unnatural mineral compound, but more than 80% of this material that is found in humans comes from eating food that is maintained with pesticides.  Organophosphorus has been linked to a number of developmental problems, including autism and ADHD.

Heart Health: CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) is a heart-healthy fatty acid that can boost cardiovascular protection.  CLA comes from animals being allowed to graze on natural grasses for longer periods of time.  CLA is also found in higher quantities in breast milk and in meat from animals that have been raised free range or cage-free.

Immune System Support: One of the biggest developments for farmers and food growers has been genetic modification.  By making fruits and vegetables substantially larger it may help with hunger and shortage issues but genetic modification is still early on in development, so the long-term effects of it on our health are not entirely understood, as many would like them to be.  In animal testing, genetically modified foods have shown a major reduction in immune system strength, certain sexual dysfunctions, cancers, and sensitivity to allergens.  Even though there are some good things about genetically modified food, organic food advocates point to the lack of concrete details about the long-term effects.

No Antibiotic Resistance: Non-organic food sources, particularly livestock and feed houses, use antibiotics on their animals and in their food.  This extra dose of antibiotics may actually be weakening our immune systems by overdosing us on antibiotics, causing resistance to them when it is necessary for us to take them.  Organic food growers and dairy farmers typically do not use antibiotics in their processes resulting in less chance for us to build a resistance.

Better Taste: Many people passionately believe that organic food tastes better than non-organic food.  The most noticeable reason for this belief is that it is produced using organic means of production, no chemicals.  Additionally, organic food is most often sold locally, resulting in availability of fresh produce in markets, which tends to taste better than produce that has been frozen, shipped, and transported across long distances.