Organic Food
Is Organic food worth the extra money? It 's a question that everyone who wants to get healthy needs to answer. There 's not a lot of speculation in the health community that Organic is the way to go, but it might not be worth your extra dollars after all. In this article, we 're going to examine the facts and offer some guidance for your decisions about organic food.
We 'll start with animal products.
Animal Products
Pretty much everyone is in agreement that Organic meat, dairy and eggs are better than Conventional.
Let 's take a quick look at how they stack up against each other.
Conventional Farming
The regulations on conventional animal products are liberal, to say the least.
Livestock is typically raised in confined …show more content…
Conventional farming methods also have severe effects on the environment and society.
Factory farmed animals are a leading factor in climate change. Cows and other ruminants don 't have the capacity to digest grains, so they end up *producing* an awful lot of methane gas. According to the EPA, livestock is responsible for a quarter of our methane emissions, as much as the fossil fuel industry.
There is a stark difference between the water footprint of Organic and Factory Farms.
Factory farms use irrigated feed, which requires a ton of water.
Also, the manure from these industrial farms is a major contributor to the pollution of Earth 's finite amount of drinkable water.
Considering all of the above, it 's pretty obvious that conventional meat should be avoided. Here 's an in-depth review of the potential ill-effects that industrial meat could cause.
Commercial Organic Farming
The USDA seal isn 't everything, but "Organic" does guarantee a few major things.
The USDA prohibits the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, plastic, manure, and other harmful substances in organically farmed …show more content…
Since most of the Organic food companies are owned by large corporations, Organic and Conventional crops often end up being grown on the same farming complex. Pesticide sprays drift when they 're applied, and Organic crops often end up with traces of synthetic pesticides.
There isn 't enough research on the topic to draw any general conclusions, but some organic pesticides actually have a higher oral toxicity rating than a lot of the commonly demonized synthetic pesticides.
Oral toxicity is an important factor to consider because it gives you an idea of the overall toxin load that comes with exposure to a certain substance.
What it doesn 't tell you is how the chemical interacts with your body.
Synthetic chemicals can be dangerous because they 're structurally similar enough to interact with the receptors for natural compounds within your body. Otherwise, they would just be detoxed or buffered with adipose tissue. This applies to pharmaceuticals, supplements, and pesticides alike.
On that note though, your body detoxes certain substances better than others. Of course, it depends on your biochemical
Is Organic food worth the extra money? It 's a question that everyone who wants to get healthy needs to answer. There 's not a lot of speculation in the health community that Organic is the way to go, but it might not be worth your extra dollars after all. In this article, we 're going to examine the facts and offer some guidance for your decisions about organic food.
We 'll start with animal products.
Animal Products
Pretty much everyone is in agreement that Organic meat, dairy and eggs are better than Conventional.
Let 's take a quick look at how they stack up against each other.
Conventional Farming
The regulations on conventional animal products are liberal, to say the least.
Livestock is typically raised in confined …show more content…
Conventional farming methods also have severe effects on the environment and society.
Factory farmed animals are a leading factor in climate change. Cows and other ruminants don 't have the capacity to digest grains, so they end up *producing* an awful lot of methane gas. According to the EPA, livestock is responsible for a quarter of our methane emissions, as much as the fossil fuel industry.
There is a stark difference between the water footprint of Organic and Factory Farms.
Factory farms use irrigated feed, which requires a ton of water.
Also, the manure from these industrial farms is a major contributor to the pollution of Earth 's finite amount of drinkable water.
Considering all of the above, it 's pretty obvious that conventional meat should be avoided. Here 's an in-depth review of the potential ill-effects that industrial meat could cause.
Commercial Organic Farming
The USDA seal isn 't everything, but "Organic" does guarantee a few major things.
The USDA prohibits the use of antibiotics, growth hormones, plastic, manure, and other harmful substances in organically farmed …show more content…
Since most of the Organic food companies are owned by large corporations, Organic and Conventional crops often end up being grown on the same farming complex. Pesticide sprays drift when they 're applied, and Organic crops often end up with traces of synthetic pesticides.
There isn 't enough research on the topic to draw any general conclusions, but some organic pesticides actually have a higher oral toxicity rating than a lot of the commonly demonized synthetic pesticides.
Oral toxicity is an important factor to consider because it gives you an idea of the overall toxin load that comes with exposure to a certain substance.
What it doesn 't tell you is how the chemical interacts with your body.
Synthetic chemicals can be dangerous because they 're structurally similar enough to interact with the receptors for natural compounds within your body. Otherwise, they would just be detoxed or buffered with adipose tissue. This applies to pharmaceuticals, supplements, and pesticides alike.
On that note though, your body detoxes certain substances better than others. Of course, it depends on your biochemical