There is always a dilemma about if and why organic food is healthier, and whether it is worth spending a few extra bucks. There is so much debate going on between conventional and organic foods, that it confuses the average consumer.
How then do we decide on whether it is worth going the organic route or not? There are many fascinating articles written by environmentalists, nutritionists, organic growers, and a lot of other stakeholders. Each one has made some pretty impressive findings on why organic food is better.
This article will give you 10 solid reasons why foods without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or GMOs are healthier.
Pesticides, Synthetic Fertilizers, & GMO's
Unfortunately, conventional food has so many insecticides and pesticides. Farmers use these poisons to increase production or increase the size of the grains, fruits, or vegetables. In fact, some growers use it just to enhance the natural pigments of the food.
For example, something as simple as sprouted mung beans, which is so healthy even if just eaten raw. Even the conventional sprouted mung beans found in the market are grown with so many pesticides that it beats the purpose of sprouting also!
An ideal way to consume sprouted mung beans is in khichri. You can make different varieties of khichdi, such as Masala Khichdi, Sprouted Mung Beans Khichri, Millet Khichri, and also Quinoa Khichri.
Why Organic Food is Healthier
This is one of the main reasons why we advocate the Organic food route. Let us now look into just 10 Powerful Benefits of Organic food:
1. Organic Food is Grown Naturally
Food is supposed to be grown in natural environment, and that’s how precisely organic food is grown. In the earlier days, the only manure that was given to the soil was natural and wastes from plants and vegetables. Organic food uses these principles and only uses naturally fed enhancers for growth.
2. Organic Food is Free of any Chemicals, Insecticides, and Pesticides
Let us take the same example of sprouted mung beans. These mung beans when grown conventionally, have these growth spurts which make the size of the bean extra-large. In this process, it loses its benefits and nutritive values. So, it is best to have it in organic form.
3. Organic Food is Free of Hormones
Organic food is free of hormones: Let us take the classic example of hormone injected foods. These are typically chicken milk, and meat. The growth hormone is injected into animals to increase production. This multiplies the output to 2 to 3 times its capacity.
Then when you eat these foods, the growth hormone gets transferred to your body. This is one reason why we see overweight and obesity rising among younger children, and even in adults.
Overweight is just one problem that arises. There are so many more health factors also like hypothyroidism, cancer, etc. on the rise. Unfortunately, all these injected hormones have a role to play in this.
4. Increase in Omega-3 Fatty Acids
According to a 2016 study conducted by the British Journal of Nutrition, organic milk and meat have about 50% more omega-3 fatty acids.
5. Pesticides Cause Harm to Farm Workers
Being in contact with some pesticides increases the risk of cancer. Farm workers are more exposed to some of these pesticides and thus fall a risk to certain cancers.
6. Raw Food Is Best Eaten Organic
Good things in life always come at a cost. So if you do decide to go organic even half-way, then the starting point could be to start going organic with fruits and salad vegetables. This is because they are eaten raw.
Any fruit or vegetable consumed with the skin or have a thick skin are best if organic. This includes apples, strawberries, blueberries, tomatoes, and sprouts. The reason being, there are more pesticide residues attached to the skin of these fruits and vegetables.
7. Organic Food is Preferred for Patients Fighting Long-term Diseases
If the body has any disease like cancer or any illness which requires the immune system to work hard, is better off consuming organic food. The reasoning is simple. You want the body’s immune system to fight cancer, and not protect itself from pesticide residue.
8. Consuming Organic Food Benefits The Environment
Natural, organically grown foods help preserve the soil it grows in and keeps it healthy. Which means that in the long run, there will be more fertile soil which will in turn help grow more organic food and hence reduce the cost eventually. This way more and more people will be able to consume naturally grown healthy organic food.
9. Organic Food is Richer in Vitamins and Minerals
Organic foods enhance the vitamin and mineral content of grains, fruits, and vegetables. Also, the bio-availability of these vitamins and minerals is increased and the body can absorb it much faster.
10. Organic Food Increases Immunity
A very important factor in eating organic foods is that it increases the immunity of the body to fight against other environmental and internal factors like pollution, stress, etc.
Author
 Sonal Khakhar is a founder of Aahanas Naturals and continued with the heritage of preserving traditional family recipes and tweaking the inherited recipes further with her knowledge as a Nutritionist.
