One of the most effective ways to stay healthy, prevent disease, and take charge of your overall well-being is to be conscious of what you put into your body. It’s not enough to simply have a well-balanced diet. It’s also crucial that your food be clean, free of pesticides, herbicides, and other toxic synthetic chemicals, and less processed and more holistic. 

The use of synthetic chemicals and many unhealthy and unnatural practices used in conventional food growing methods can cause any number of issues for the human body and the environment. Anything from hormonal disruptions, cancer, respiratory problems, neurological disorders, and so much more can result from ingesting these harmful synthetic chemicals. 

Spraying crops with toxic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in the field is just the start of the barrage of dangerous additives found in our food supply today. Animals are pumped with hormones and antibiotics, and preservatives and artificial ingredients can be found in abundance in so many of the foods that line grocery store shelves today. Organic foods are void of these detrimental toxins and are grown in a much healthier and more sustainable way.  

Today’s blog will take a deep dive into the world of organic foods and why they can be so beneficial to one’s overall health.

What Does it Mean to be Organic?

Choosing organic foods should start with a better understanding of what it means to be labelled organic. It’s not only about the absence of harmful substances used in organically grown foods, but it is also about the methods of growing those foods. Foods grown organically truly utilize all that nature has to offer to keep them sustainable and nutrient-rich. 

According to the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), any food, seed, or animal feed that carries the Canada Organic label must be regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). In addition, the use of the Canada Organic logo is only authorized on products that contain ninety-five percent or greater organic ingredients and have been certified according to the requirements of the Canada Organic Regime. The Canada Organic Regime regulates all parties involved in the certification of organic products, and the CFIA enforces all the requirements of the Canada Organic Regime.

When it comes to labelling foods under the organic umbrella, there are a few different classifications they can fit into according to Canada Organic Regime guidelines. For example, suppose a product is made with ninety-five percent organic ingredients or greater. In that case, it may be labelled as organic, organically grown, organically raised, or organically produced and carry the Canada Organic seal. However, unlike the United States, in Canada, you cannot claim that a product is one hundred percent organic according to the Organic Product Regulations.

The next labelling tier encompasses multi-ingredient products with organic content that falls between seventy percent to ninety-five percent. In this case, the product can claim it contains XX percent of organic ingredients anywhere on the packaging. The list of ingredients should also clearly denote which items are organic. These products are also required to be certified by a CFIA-accredited Certification Body, and the certifier’s name must appear on any label making an organic claim. 

Last but not least, at the base of the organic definition pyramid are all the multi-ingredient products that contain less than seventy percent organic ingredients. They are strictly prohibited from having the Canada Organic Logo or being labelled as “organic” anywhere on the product. In this case, the product itself does not need to be certified, but any organic ingredients found within the product must be certified.  

Before any foods can carry the Canada Organic label or claim to be organic, stringent guidelines must be adhered to. It doesn’t just stop with the ingredients, either. Production methods are also taken into consideration. For example, there are standards for growing properly, harvesting, processing, and storing crops. Another interesting evaluation pertains to livestock and how they are housed, fed, transported, and slaughtered. These uncompromising standards are what help to ensure the purest and highest quality organic food.

The Health Benefits of Eating Organic Food

Numerous studies have been done over the years that demonstrate the budding health benefits of eating organic foods. There has been a link discovered in those who regularly consume substantial amounts of organic food and reduced cancer risks. When you think about that logically, it makes perfect sense. Organically grown foods are more nutrient-dense and contain fewer synthetic chemicals. Therefore by consuming more organic foods, you get higher quantities of nutrients that naturally ward off disease and fewer toxins than promote it. It’s also important to note that just because a bag of chocolate chip cookies is labelled as organic doesn’t make it a healthy choice. It’s still processed food at the end of the day. It may have less toxic chemicals, but you should opt for whole organic foods over junk food. 

A study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry found that organic onions displayed higher levels of antioxidants and other nutrients over six years than conventionally grown onions. This was due to differing soil management methods. The organic onions were able to absorb all the essential vitamins and minerals from their nutrient-rich soil instead of the conventional onions that used soil treated with pesticides and herbicides. There are numerous ways that organically grown foods take advantage of natural processes to yield chemical-free and vitamin-rich results. First, it starts in the ground with fruitful, healthy soil. This solid soil foundation allows plants to grow with a healthy plant immune system to ward off disease. Second, when you eat organically grown foods chock-full of nutrients, you are exponentially increasing the benefits to your overall health. Increasing your vitamin and mineral intake and decreasing the harmful chemicals ingested directly correlates to less illness and greater health. 

It’s always better to be proactive about your health as opposed to reactive. The goal should be to prevent illness and disease from happening in the body instead of creating an environment ripe for ailments and treating those issues with unnatural practices. Organically grown foods harness a holistic approach by putting preventative measures to ward off insects, weeds, and disease naturally. For example, organically grown foods forgo the highly toxic pesticides in plants that harbour helpful insects to eat the destructive ones. By avoiding using these pesticides and other harmful synthetic chemicals, the benefits are directly passed down to you, the consumer. A study done by the Environmental Working group (EWG) showed that more than two hundred different chemicals and toxins, including pesticides, were found in babies’ umbilical cord blood. Kids are at the highest risk from these chemicals because they are still growing, and being exposed to all these toxins so young has the potential to wreak havoc on their health and well-being. Another study on animals showed that even small traces of some toxins could have damaging effects. Choosing organic food for you and your family is truly a logical way to reduce everyone’s exposure to all of these dangerous toxins. 

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are also something you will not find in organic food. According to the NON-GMO Project, GMOs are genetically engineered living organisms that have been artificially manipulated in a lab. A GMO can also combine two living organisms through crossbreeding that would typically never be found together in nature. For example, the genetic material from an Atlantic salmon has been crossbreed with that of a strawberry so that the strawberry has a greater chance of surviving a frost. Also, a considerable portion of the GMOs on the market today have been created to resist pesticides and herbicides. This poses a massive problem as now more potent and more deadly synthetic chemicals are used on these crops, causing an array of health problems for those that ingest them or have been exposed to them. 

Organically grown foods bring back natural agriculture the way mother nature intended it to be. Choosing to eat foods grown organically effectively contributes to your health and happiness and the health and welfare of future generations to come. Eating well and getting proper nutrition is a fundamental ideology that should resonate with everyone to live long and prosper, as the great Mr. Spock would say!

Health is Wealth!

The human body is a very well-oiled machine, and sometimes we just need to get out of its way for it to function at the highest level the way it was meant to. Nourishing the body through clean proper nutrition is one of the ways we can do that. So choosing to eat organic food is about a natural inclination to avoid those things that can be very harmful to our health and opt for food of the highest calibre.

It’s so true that without your health, you don’t have anything. This becomes very apparent anytime you are sick. Therefore, focusing on your overall health and well-being should be a top priority for everyone. This affects all human beings collectively. It’s important to understand that what we put into our bodies directly affects our health and whether we are creating an environment that promotes disease or prevents it. Eating organic food is one way to take control of your health and feel good about what you are fueling your body with.