Why Eat Organic?

If you are reading this article, chances are you have some degree of inflammation in your body.  Inflammation is the start of many illnesses, including rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, as well as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimers.  

When I tell people that they should consider switching to organic food, the first response is often that organic food is too expensive. 

I’m not going to lie …eating organic food IS more expensive in the short term and on the pocketbook.  Why spend more on the ‘same’ food? Maybe the question shouldn’t be why organic food is so expensive, but why is the rest of it so cheap?

Here’s the thing, though.  If it isn’t labeled organic, the produce you are buying is very likely heavily sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals to make it ripen.   

Why would that matter to you? 

Pesticides such as Glyphosate (a commonly used pesticide which was actually developed from Agent Orange) are deemed safe for human consumption because it doesn’t harm human cells.  It DOES, however, kill bacteria.

If you haven’t heard it yet, you should know that we have a microbiome, a collection of bacteria in and on our bodies.  Our health depends on the health of our microbiome, particularly the gut microbiome.  If our gut microbiome is not flourishing, then WE are not flourishing.  

Eating produce that has been sprayed with pesticides damages our microbiome, creating holes in the lining of the gut, or “leaky gut.” Leaky gut is the underlying condition in all autoimmune disorders, but it can be healed with food and lifestyle choices.  

Hippocrates said that all disease begins in the gut.  Disease prevention and healing from disease also begins in the gut … starting with eating the very best food possible. If there was ever a good investment to make, it is to give your body the very best fuel you can give it.  After all, it’s the only vehicle we have to go through this life.

Many of us treat our cars better than we treat our bodies!  Would you put crappy gas in your car and expect it to run optimally?  I don’t think so!

Non-organic food may cost less in dollars, but it costs more in other ways. Lack of wellness is one way. Another way is energy.  Your liver has to work hard to deal with all those chemicals.  This is energy which you don’t have for all the other things you want to do in life, including healing. 

If you really must compromise, then focus your organic spending dollars on the most heavily sprayed foods.  The Environmental Working Group based in the US puts together a list of the “Dirty Dozen” most heavily sprayed produce and the “Clean Fifteen” which are the least sprayed with pesticides. 

Here are the Dirty Dozen for 2019:

1. Strawberries

2. Spinach

3. Kale

4. Nectarines

5. Apples

6. Grapes

7. Peaches

8. Cherries

9. Pears

10. Tomatoes

11. Celery

12. Potatoes

Here is this year’s Clean Fifteen:

1. Avocados

2. Sweet corn (non-GMO)

3. Pineapple

4. Sweet peas (frozen)

5. Onions

6. Papaya (non-GMO)

7. Eggplant

8. Asparagus

9. Kiwi fruit

10. Cabbages

11. Cauliflower

12. Cantaloupes

13. Broccoli

14. Mushrooms

15. Honeydew melon

An added bonus is that choosing to eat organic food is not only better for your body, it’s also better for the earth. What a great win-win!

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