Green Eating
Many people wonder whether organic food is really as healthy as it claims to be and why conventional food products are still on the shelves if they are that unhealthy? Unfortunately, food and even human health are a major business and as a result, we are not revealed everything we should know about the food we eat and its effects on health. The nutritionists and health experts promote consumption of fruits and vegetables, avoidance of processed foods, products that are high in sugar content, etc. but most of them tend to avoid the discussion about the effects of conventionally grown food on health.
A number of studies have been conducted on the issue concerning conventional vs. organic food but the researchers came to conflicting results. However, the effects of pesticides, artificial fertilizers, growth hormones, antibiotics and a number of other chemical substances which are used in production of both animal and plant based foods cannot be good for neither human health nor the environment. One really does not need scientific evidence to realize that it is much healthier to eat food products containing no chemical substances whatsoever because there are plenty of studies which have shown direct hazards of pesticides for both human health and the environment. Furthermore, the recommendations health experts offer children organically grown food due to their higher susceptibility to the effects of pesticides pretty much reveal everything about conventionally grown food. It is important to be aware that just about all types of conventional food products contain traces of pesticides, antibiotics and other substances that were used during plant production and animal raising. They are officially within safe amounts and supposedly are not harmful for human health but their effects in the long term are mostly ignored by the health authorities, at least publicly. And if these chemical remnants which, by the way, cannot always be washed off would not be enough, conventional food typically also contains various artificial preservatives, flavour enhancers and a long list of the notorious E-s.
The best thing about organic food is the fact that it does not contain any artificial ingredients and that it is produced by exclusively organic methods. This means that none of the above mentioned chemicals is used during or after its production. As a result, green eating eliminates exposure to all artificial substances which could potentially have a harmful effect on human health. But there is more. Organic food is also more nutritious because it has a shorter shelf-life and because it must be eaten sooner. The thing is that nutritional value of most foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables begins to drop immediately after harvest. This means that an apple for example, has fewer and fewer vitamins, minerals, fibres and other nutrients with each day it remains uneaten. Broccoli is even a better example of nutritional value loss. The popular vegetable is renowned as an excellent source of vitamin C but it loses as much as 50% of vitamin C content in just 7 days after harvest.
When you buy conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, there is no way to tell how long they are standing on the shelf. They may look fresh but they are not necessarily as fresh as they appear because they are almost always treated with preservatives. With organically grown ones, you can be sure that you will get truly fresh fruits and vegetables because they spoil very rapidly, especially if kept at room temperature. But you can easily test it for yourself. Buy for example organic and conventionally grown strawberries. Leave them both at room temperature for two days and you will see that the organic ones are no longer edible, while the conventionally produced ones still look as they would be just picked.