ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FOODS

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Article found at: Bodybuilding.com - Manny: Should You Eat Organic Foods?!

This article greatly explains the advantages of organic foods. We can apply this information to any health situation.

Organic foods are perhaps the least of the explored venues to attain good health. By definition, organic foods are those foods which are grown without the use of pesticides, however, this is not always the case. Many national chains claim to carry "organic" foods by simply not using the typical pesticides, yet the national chain uses foods which have been genetically manipulated so as not to use the pesticide. However, this process diminishes the qualitative value of the food. But before I proceed with descriptions of organic foods, let me elaborate the importance of using organic foods.

ADVANTAGES OF ORGANIC FOODS Organic foods such as an organic tomato have a qualitative value which a commercial tomato could not match. The organically grown tomato has not had any pesticides used to keep its natural enemies away from them. Typically, organic farmers use a natural pesticide that is safe and does not diminish the quality of the tomato. However, a commercially grown tomato has lost a great deal of its nutrition because of the pesticides used to keep it safe from its natural enemies. Another reason to eat an organic tomato (or foods for that matter) is that organic food is picked when it is ripe versus the commercial tomato. This may seem like a small issue but it is perhaps the most important issue which makes organic food a most invaluable tool for bodybuilders. Since organic food is picked when it is ripe, the food has had the ability to absorb all the trace vitamins and minerals which is sadly lacking in commercial foods. Commercial foods are picked when the vegetables are still green and does not have the opportunity to absorb all the trace vitamins and minerals which the soil offers. In essence, all the consumer is getting from the commercial grown food is filler with very little amounts of vitamins and minerals. In contrast, the organic tomato has an enormous amount of nutrition and a taste which the commercially grown tomato will not match. Since the organic tomato has more nutritional value than the commercial tomato, the bodybuilder can benefit from consuming organic food by the body receiving all the vitamins and minerals that the body needs from exertion from strenuous exercise such as weight training. Since the body is receiving all the vitamins and minerals it needs, the recovery time is faster, thus an improved physique in a shorter period of time. This may prompt the question: What about taking a vitamin/mineral supplement? Is that sufficient? Unfortunately no, because the a vitamin/mineral supplement has the macro vitamins and minerals, but not the trace vitamins and minerals (generally speaking). This is the beauty of eating organic foods. With organic foods being the cornerstone of your diet, taking a multivitamin is unnecessary. Another benefit of eating organic food is that the body is getting all of the quality of the nutrition without having to eat huge amounts of food, which commercial foods could not match. For example, an organic tomato has the nutritional equivalent of four commercial tomatoes, thus the less amount of food a person has to consume to get all the necessary nutrition. A local organic farmer once told me that an apple grown 100 years ago has 50 times the nutritional value that a commercially grown apple has today. I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is, imagine the quality of a physique that nutritionally dense food such as that could provide. It has been rumored in the organic "underground" that the cause of many of today's maladies are because of the quality of food keeps diminishing yet the quantity keeps increasing. The increase in quantity of food is increased because of genetic engineered food, which on the surface may seem like a good idea, but in reality, we are curing a headache by cutting off the head. However, this is a topic for future reading. But for now, let's focus on the issue of consuming and supporting organic farming. Three years ago, I experienced a pulled pectoral muscle and had difficulty rehabilitating it. Physical therapy helped somewhat, but I was still unable to bench press. One day a friend, with an organic garden, brought me vegetables from his garden, which I gladly consumed. After two weeks, my bench was back up to an all-time high (435 lbs) and my recovery time was amazing; and my body fat drop significantly. All my friends were curious as to what new "supplement" I was taking. I was happy to tell them that it was simply organic vegetables given to me by a friend. Since then I have been "sold" on consuming organic foods. Which brings up another topic... the importance of the soil. The importance of the soil is a key component in organic farming. Another drawback of commercial farming is that the soil is greatly exhausted from continuous farming. If the soil is exhausted from continuous farming, then the soil has little trace vitamins and minerals for the vegetables/fruit to absorb, thus the fruit or vegetable grown on it is simply food filler, with little nutritional value. Although commercial soil additives help, they do not replenish the soil of ALL the nutrients that have been exhausted from continuous farming. One of the most effective means of replenishing the soil of its nutrients is with kelp. This simple organic item does amazing things to replenish the soil of all the nutrients.