Are these foods really better for our health? We analyze it.
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The benefits of eating organic food
Those who have been interested in consuming healthy foods have surely found organic food easily . The truth is that there are different reasons, although the main idea is simple: they do not accumulate as many chemicals.
Below you will find the six benefits of consuming organic food that have already been verified by nutrition experts worldwide. And we are not only talking about advantages for our health, but we will also contribute to the planet clearly benefiting at an ecological and environmental level.
1. Cultivation without synthetic chemicals
Different organisms live among our fruits and vegetables, some of which may affect the plant or fruit. So, their existence is annoying because they can waste a lot of money and effort for farmers, which is why many chemical substances are designed to kill these pests that seriously affect crops.
From the outset, it does not seem an ideal scenario that our food has developed between chemical substances. In addition to fertilizers and fertilizers, there are also insecticides, pesticides and herbicides.
In general, organic products are produced without using any synthetic chemical product or a few very well studied ones and in low quantities. They advocate the use of natural substances and even other organisms that compete with unwanted ones without affecting the product we want to take care of.
2. Respect for the environment
Organic products are, from the outset, sustainable . They do not use products derived from the potentially harmful chemical industry, and their methods are characterized by their biodegradable capacity, they do not harm the territory and they do not enter the food chain.
Therefore, up to this point we could conclude that they are products that respect the environment and that they do not deplete the earth’s resources. But, attention! Here is one of the fundamental observations and that, at the same time, highlights the differences that may exist between organic products and those of proximity.
Proximity products, although they follow the precept of using a traditional methodology away from the use of chemical substances, are not subject to controls to have a certification. In fact, that a food can be classified as “organic” implies an expense for the farmer who does not always want to assume, and prefers to sell to local consumers with whom they establish bonds of trust.
On the other hand, it may be that an organic product has followed a rigorous quality control to be able to have the certification of an organic product, but then the distribution is very little organic. That is to say, a person who lives in Spain can buy some apples that come from Argentina, implying an environmental cost due to transport and other derived logistical expenses.
3. Respect for animals
The meat industry is very powerful and very lucrative, and it is generally sought to obtain the product by lowering costs as much as possible. This means that it uses the bodies of animals as if it were agriculture. What happens is that with animals, and especially with mammals that have feelings, things get really raw.
Many parallels can be made. If conventional agriculture opts for hectares of monocultures sprayed with pesticides, in the meat industry hundreds or thousands of living beings are crowded and antibiotics are administered. If manure and fertilizer are given in conventional agriculture, feed and growth hormone are given in the food industry.
There is much moral debate as to whether we should consume any meat or not. What is clear is that it is not the same to live a lifetime eating fodder, in overcrowded conditions, to perceive the stress of your colleagues (many of whom are sick) and to die after a few months or years of life, than to live in Total freedom.
In Spain, for example, there are companies specializing in organic Jabugo ham that advocate another way of producing meat. They keep their pigs in complete freedom in Sierra Morena Natural Parks, declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO. They live for many years feeding on acorns, wild fruits, roots and grasses, making their immune system strong and their growth slow and healthy. This type of organic farming is not only more respectful of animals but, as they have been fed naturally, their meat has a number of benefits for our health.
4. Respect for farmers
The health of farmers is an issue that unfairly often ends up in the background . Work in the fields is physical and generally very demanding, so ensuring that farmers do not put their health at risk to make ends meet would be the minimum.
Many of the chemicals used in conventional agriculture have to be worn with a mask, although this is not a total solution. Serious health problems could appear after years of exposure.
In fact, this summer of 2018 there has been an unprecedented sentence in the world related to this matter. The huge company Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer, was sentenced by a California jury to pay 289 million dollars to a single man. He claims that he has developed the terminal cancer that he suffers from due to his exposure to a company chemical that contains glyphosate.
5. Greater nutritional properties
Organic food has more nutrients than food produced conventionally (in our times, conventional means cultivation with the use of synthetic chemical substances).
Organic products offer a notable greater nutritional contribution, especially in regard to minerals, polyphenols, and also some vitamins. Scientific studies prove it.
In addition, it is not necessary to peel vegetable products for fear of contaminants. In fact, most of the nutrients that we find in fruits and vegetables are in the skin , so it is a real shame that we so often part with this good part of the food.
6. Protection of biodiversity
During the 20th century, intensive agriculture and the food industry have affected the decline of many varieties of vegetables and animal breeds. For centuries a great biodiversity of fruits, plants and vegetables (and even varieties in farm animals) developed in different territories, and today it would be a very great common good to maintain them for different reasons.
For example, recovering old varieties of plants and animals allows us to have a greater repertoire and ability to preserve species in the face of possible devastating diseases.
For example, the banana or the grapes were about to disappear from the face of the earth due to this type of limitation. The species that produce these fruits had a shortage of variability in their genetic pool to protect the species from extinction.
On the other hand, it is a treasure to have the possibility of using different products for our recipes. These can acquire very interesting subtleties in terms of color, shape, texture, flavor, etc. In addition, the more variability of products we ingest, the more different nutrients we give to our body and the more well-equipped it will be. And it is that different varieties can contain different amounts of vitamins, minerals, etc.
Bibliographic references
- Crinnion, W.J. (2010). Organic Foods Contain Higher Levels of Certain Nutrients, Lower Levels of Pesticides, and May Provide Health Benefits for the Consumer. Alternative Medicine Review, 15 (1), 4-12.
- Flores Serrano, J. (2009). Ecological agriculture. Barcelona:Mundi-Press Books
- Martin, A. (2013). Eat to be better. Ed. Grijalbo.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.