Why is it so important today to have a choice between familiar and organic foods, and why does food become a reason to develop phobias of all kinds and serious diseases? The answer is on the surface: the food we eat affects our microbiome, the basis of healthy longevity. Moreover, the irrational consumption of food becomes the basis for the development of resistance to antibiotics, for example.
If the cow that gives us meat and milk is treated with antibiotics, then we are automatically involved in this pathological chain. Add to this poor ecology, hypodynamia and stress, and it is clear why environmental cleanliness is becoming such an important element in human eating behavior.
Contents:
- Are conventional products dangerous?
- Does organic food make things better?
- List of organic foods
- Benefits
- Requirements for organic products
Are conventional products dangerous?
Economic gain makes the least concern about the health of the consumer. The main goal is to feed as many people as possible at the lowest cost.
To achieve it, food producers use a range of measures, from genetic engineering to the use of dangerous chemicals.
For example:
- minimizing production costs;
- making the production cycle cheaper;
- extending the shelf life of their products;
- reducing spoilage by increasing the resistance of food resources to pests and negative external factors.
As a result, the shelves of supermarkets, markets, and market stalls are overflowing with beautiful and appetizing products that can be stored in the cold for months. But at what cost? Few people think about it seriously. Products altered in their taste and natural properties reduce immunity, disrupt metabolic processes, cause allergies and somatic pathologies, cause chronic fatigue syndrome, form eating disorders.
It is the hormone of fat cells leptin, which controls the satiation processes and starts influencing incorrectly the hypothalamus centers, causing leptin resistance and obesity. In order to avoid gaining extra pounds, many people today strive to eat organic food, placing high hopes on it. This is how a disease called orthorexia appears.
Does organic food make things better?
At the heart of the eco-food craze is the firm knowledge that natural foods guarantee healthy longevity. That is, it is worth replacing the usual diet with organic food, and everything around will take on a different meaning. But this is an illusion: without active movement, absence of stress and digestive system diseases, such a goal is practically unattainable.
Moreover, our body needs a certain amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins in order to function properly. With conventional foods these elements sometimes come in excess and leptin is forced to adjust the feeling of satiety in order not to get over-caloric. With organic foods it’s more complicated.
Replacing junk food with healthy foods certainly leads to a gradual improvement in well-being and mood, improves performance, reduces chronic diseases, and restores vitality. But it is important to understand that natural food is not a panacea. It alone is not always able to cover all the physiological needs of the body, so deviations from it are quite acceptable.
In addition, you should not expect from organic food total changes in health or hope for the cure of any pathology. Moreover, the wrong combination of products can give the opposite effect. As well as attempts to over saturate the body with useful substances at the expense of uncontrolled consumption of unusual food for the body.
List of organic products
It is important to understand that today the production of organic products is regulated by law. Demand breeds supply, every year there are more and more food products on the market, which are absolutely not able to harm the body and even vice versa. The main thing is to learn to recognize such products on the shelves. What are these ecological products? First of all, they are devoid of genetically modified organisms, artificially synthesized preservatives, flavor enhancers, dyes and flavorings. The organic raw materials used in the production of these products exclude the use of hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilizers, toxic chemicals and pesticides.
Organic foods are tastier and healthier, but subject to the same laws of eating habits, satiety and controlled by leptin. Despite the fact that organic foods automatically include fruits and vegetables, this is far from being the case. Yes, they are natural in nature, but they can be coated with various chemicals to extend shelf life and marketable appearance. You should know that there is a whole list of products with the prefix “organic,” and it is not always fruits and vegetables. This can include pasta, nuts, vegetable oils, dried fruits, natural canned foods, milk and its derivatives, candy and chocolate.
There are also known eco-products of animal origin, prepared according to special technologies: without growth hormones, chemicals, antibiotics, low-quality feed. Some manufacturers produce eco-food for pets, all marked with the eco-label.
Benefits
Organic products are excellent helpers for human health.
In addition to being healthy, organic food has other important qualities:
- Maximum saturation of vitamins and minerals (up to 50 5 more than in conventional food).
- Excellent flavor data, aroma, juiciness and appetite.
- Safety inside and outside: the absence of wax for long storage allows you to eat the fruit with the skin, without fear for their own health and getting even more useful substances.
- The absence of chemical additives makes eco-products useful for children and pregnant women.
Requirements for organic products
For the released products to be really safe and useful, manufacturers need to comply with certain requirements:
- Mineral fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals, unnatural irradiation must not be used in the cultivation of crops. Only ecologically pure feed is used, and hormones and feed antibiotics must not be present in animal nutrition.
- Artificial preservatives, genetically modified organisms, synthetic flavorings, substitutes and taste regulators are excluded from the production cycle. There is no possibility of using aggressive methods of food processing or changing its original properties.
- External processing is minimal.
It is better to buy organic products in specialized stores. In Russia there is no law regulating the production and sale of organic products, but its draft has been submitted to the State Duma. Agricultural fairs with a wide variety of farm products are held monthly in different cities of the country. But despite the attractive appearance, there is no guarantee that they are natural.
That is why it is better to buy organic products in places that provide an official and one hundred percent guarantee of their naturalness and safety. You can recognize the eco-friendly product by the signs “BIO”, “ECO”, “ORGANIC”. Despite the high cost of organic products, you should always remember that it is an investment in your own health.