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Benefits of Eating Organic

June 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Organic Fruit When it comes to organic foods and eating organic, there are some things you should think carefully about. When we're talking about organic, we should point out that we mean food which is grown without artificial chemicals and compounds. The benefits of eating organic are simple. The biggest is that your body is going to get more vitamins and minerals from the food you eat. Processed food usually has less taste and isn't as beneficial for your body. Beyond personal benefits, eating organic can help you have a positive impact on the planet as well. As you'll see, this combination is why eating organic makes sense if you're a modern woman.

Basic Benefits of Eating Organic

When it comes down to it, if you eat organic, you're going to benefit personally from being able to get more nutrients out of the food you eat. Processed food is sometimes less expensive and more convenient or easy to get, but by insisting on organically grown food, you're going to make sure your body gets what it needs to stay healthy. For most women, this is the basic thought behind why they decided to eat organic.

Global Benefits of Eating Organic

If you haven't heard it yet, sustainability if going to be a word used often in the near future. As the population on the planet expands, it becomes harder and harder to keep up with food supply for all of them. So, sustainable, organic methods of food production are very important for the future of the planet as a whole. Organic gardening helps with biodiversity. The lack of biodiversity is one of the bigger problems facing the environment around the world. Eating organic helps promote this good type of farming and food production for the planet.

Best Benefits of Eating Organic

When it comes down to it, eating organic is good for you and the planet as a whole. Anytime you can find something than benefits yourself and those around you, it's a win-win situation that any woman should jump at. There are some setbacks as organic food is usually more expensive, but it's definitely worth it. This winning combination is why so many people have made the switch to organic eating. The benefits are worth the extra price you pay for the quality, especially if you think fitness and staying in shape is important for a long and happy life.

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Organic Grains to Add to Your Diet

November 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Organic Grains In this day and age of low carb diets mixed with the bizarre bedfellow of convenient processed foods, whole grains have largely fallen by the wayside. Dismissed either as too high in carbohydrates or too much work to cook, these old staples are too often passed over for less healthy alternatives. If you're serious about going green with your diet, adding these 5 whole grains back into your diet is a great way to really support the planet and your own health.

Brown and Wild Rice

Unlike its bleached counterpart, brown rice is high in fiber and vitamin E. This means that not only will eating less of it fill you up faster, but that simply from eating it you'll gain a boost in immunity and other essential systems in your body. Although it takes slightly longer to cook than white rice, it's easy enough to switch in any basic recipe. Wild rice isn't actually a grain at all, but rather the seed of an aquatic grass. It's a bit higher in price than a lot of the other grains on this list, but it's also idiot-proof, with a natural nutty flavor that's hard to ruin. Low in calories and easy to cook, its an easy addition to any diet.

Barley

Barley has a great history of being useful, and has been used for centuries as a source of food, medicine, and even money. High in fiber, it helps keep you regular, which is something no one likes to talk about, but everyone appreciates. High levels of potassium, magnesium, vitamin E, zinc, protein, and loads of other vitamins and minerals make it a great option in any diet.

Oats

It's important to note that we don't mean those rolled kind that come in cardboard cylinders. We also don't mean the kind that are microwavable and come in prepackaged flavors. Real oats should be as whole as possible, because the more you break them down, the less nutrients you're going to get out of them. Easy to make and tasty, these grains should be on everyone's menu.

Kamut and Spelt

Related to wheat, these grains are actually more nutritional than the average wheat you eat every day. High in protein and other minerals, they boost energy. What's more, oftentimes people with wheat allergies can eat these grains with no problem.

Quinoa

Quinoa is known to help with migraine pain and lessens the risk of heart disease. Being a protein rather than a carb means that it's even fad-diet friendly.

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Is Organic Milk Worth It?

October 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Organic Milk Perhaps one of the more controversial organic products, the question about what health benefits are really provided by buying organic milk is much debated in the health food world. Several countries, including the U.S., don't even recognize organic milk as being healthier for you than the mass market milk. Still, health food enthusiasts around the world insist that organic milk isn't just better for the environment, but better for you, too.

Organic Production Methods

For some mindful shoppers, simply knowing that buying organic milk supports organic farming practices is reason enough to eat the extra cost in their weekly grocery bill. Organic dairy cows have to be grazed entirely on organic fields that aren't treated with pesticides. Any extra feed they are provided must be grown organically. What's more, animal cruelty issues are immediately lessened when you realize that organic dairy cows aren't allowed to be given any synthetic growth hormones to force additional production of milk. These hormones often keep cows in a painful state of over production that many animal enthusiasts find repugnant.

What It Means For You

Of course, there are customers who want more than generic assurances that they're helping the environment by spending extra money - they want to know that they're helping themselves. Luckily, there's ever growing proof that organic milk provides a lot of health benefits for the average consumer. Obviously, pesticide residues are less of a problem with organic milk. Perhaps even more impressive, though, is that tests are proving the organic milk actually has more vitamins and healthy components. With more vitamins, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids, milk from organic cows provides a nice boost to our bodies. It can even improve the quality of a mother's breast milk and has been known to help protect children against asthma and eczema.

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Organic Cosmetics – What’s the Difference?

August 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Organic Cosmetics While organic foods and cleaners have definitely become more and more commonplace in the last few years, there are still a few areas of organic life where people are skeptical. Organic cosmetics, for example, tend to be viewed with more suspicion than other organic products. Often containing many of the same base ingredients, like zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and mica, people have to wonder what advantage they're really gaining if they splurge on the organic product. The answer, however, is a bit more cut and dry than cosmetic companies might have you believe.

Exercise Some Control

The truth is that most cosmetics are fairly unregulated, meaning that all sorts of chemicals and carcinogens could be laced in what seems like a fairly innocuous package. Until stricter regulations are put into place for cosmetic companies, organic cosmetics offer a measure of control over what you're putting onto your skin and consequently, into your body. Skin absorbs all sorts of things into your bloodstream, and when things like mercury, polyethylene glycol, and alcohol are present that's nothing to mess with. These toxins can't be processed by the body and can often linger in the intestines and other organs, causing damage.

Protect Yourself

Over the counter cosmetics are often laced with unnecessary dyes, preservatives, and synthetic materials that can clog pores and damage the skin. Ironically, that usually requires the use of additional cosmetic products, creating an endless loop of demand that can put a hole in your pocketbook and create long term damage exactly where you don't want it. Organic makeup doesn't have many of these dyes and fragrances, decreasing the potential for allergy-related problems or skin irritation. It also usually has some level of SPF, offering a small amount of built in protection against harmful and aging UV rays.

Help the Environment

All of those unnatural chemicals laced throughout over the counter cosmetic products aren't biodegradable, causing more chemicals to leech into the soil and harm the overall environment. While spending a few extra dollars at the cosmetics counter might seem like a small way to make a difference, a lot of small contributions can add up. The more people who switch to organic, the more demand there will be for companies to switch their products from chemical based to organic ingredients. For right now, though, be cautious - educate yourself on what you're buying. There are few regulations on the cosmetic industry right now, so you really have to know what you're buying to make the extra expense worth it.

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Foods You Should Always Buy Organic

July 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Organic Strawberries Even the most dyed in the wool organic food specialist has to admit that switching over completely just might not be financially feasible for every average bloke. If you're willing to make an effort, it can be confusing - where will your limited funds do the most good for the environment and for yourself? Well, here's an easy list of six foods that should always be bought organic if you can manage it. What's more, make sure it is 'certified organic' - no "all natural" labels that can sneak in questionable elements.

Chicken and Eggs

Although certified organic chicken is usually about twice the price of regular chicken, there are a lot of environmental and humanitarian bonuses to buying organic chicken. Organic chickens are free-range, offering a bit of peace of mind to the soft-hearted who can't stand the idea of the birds in tiny little cages. What's more, they are fed at least 95% organic feed and grazed on pastures that aren't treated with harmful pesticides. No antibiotics means that when you eat chicken at your bbq, all you're getting for a change is chicken. Eggs offer all of the same benefits and peace of mind.

Apples

People swear by the taste of organic apples, stating that they're more than worth the increased price. What's more, apples often have the residue of synthetic chemicals on their skin, meaning that switching them in your diet can automatically decrease your exposure to these potentially harmful chemicals.

Strawberries

A 2003 study called the Australian Total Diet Survey found that strawberries contained more synthetic chemical residue than any other fruit, having traceable amounts on at least two thirds of the fruit tested. A few studies even suggest that organic studies contain more antioxidants than their traditional counterparts.

Chocolate

While a lot of people wouldn't think that going organic could be important when talking about junk food, the truth is that organic chocolate is simply better for you. Cheap choc bars often have trans fats that aren't allowed in organic foods. With the number and kinds of additive limited in organic chocolate, you know you're getting more actual chocolate for your money.

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Top Toxic Beauty Ingredients

July 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Toxic Beauty IngredientsRising concern about chemicals and how they affect us isn't just centered around food anymore. Every product we use in our daily life is under scrutiny, and rightfully so. Beauty products, for instance, are applied daily for most women and more often than not can contain some seriously nasty chemicals. Applied directly to the skin, these chemicals are easily absorbed into the body with all sorts of unpleasant results. Although it requires a little more effort at the makeup counter, we have to ask: why take chances with the largest organ in our body?

First and Foremost: Petrochemicals

It can't surprise anyone that petrochemicals top the list of things you want to avoid in your beauty products. Beyond just being bad for you, they are derived from crude oil and other nonrenewable sources that make them doubly bad for the environment. Ingredients like Denatured Alcohol, Benzyl Alcohol, and even so-called healthy mineral oils all have a host of nasty side effects including dermatitis, irritating the eyes and skin, and causing extreme acne. If the planet isn't a good enough reason to steer clear, certainly those counter productive results are.

The Runner-Up: Phthalates

Sure, that lotion you're eying may smell like the bee's knees, but you should know that most synthetic fragrances contain phthalates. In fact, these nasty little buggers are in just about every mainstream cosmetic, as well as glues, plastics, and nail polish. Unfortunately, they also mimic hormones and are endocrine disrupters, and are seen more and more often in the blood of pregnant mothers and infants. Early studies are tying these chemicals to genital development and birth defects.

Other Things to Avoid

If just trying to avoid those two major ingredients wasn't enough of a challenge for you, try including these ingredients on your taboo list. Several different types of ureas are known to release formaldehyde and can be a major cause of contact dermatitis. Sulfates like sodium lauryl are used in most shampoos and cleansers to create lather, which seems harmless enough. Unfortunately, they are often either derived from petroleum or vegetable oils that can be mixed with pesticides. Also beware of synthetic colors: often made from coal tar, they can contain heavy metal salts that cause skin irritation and are extremely carcinogenic.

While living green might seem a bit overwhelming at first, isn't the extra peace of mind worth a little effort? Try the beauty sections at your local health food stores to find a plethora of viable options.

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