Why Buy Organic?

Many of us ask ourselves why we should buy those organic oranges when they are sometimes smaller and more expensive than the conventionally grown kind. The choice is simple really when you know the difference between the two.

There are a lot of negative myths being spread around discounting the benefits of organics, but the evidence speaks for itself: organic food is more nutritious, better tasting, better for the environment and safer for health in comparison to commercially grown and produced food.

If challenged to prove that organic food is more nutritious we can point to studies such as, “Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains” by Virginia Worthington, doctoral candidate at John Hopkins University. Her research found that “Organic crops contained significantly more vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less nitrates than conventional crops.”

Taste is subjective of course, but if you’re curious, do your own taste test. Compare an organic carrot to one grown conventionally. The organic carrot will win every time. Try it, you’ll see!

Organic agriculture systems benefit the environment because they absorb and retain significant amounts of carbon in the soil showing that organic farming has positive implications for global warming. Well established organic systems also produce higher yields, especially under drought conditions, because wind and water erosion degrade the soil on the conventional farms while the organic matter in soil on organic farms steadily improves.

Organically grown food is safer because there are fewer pesticide residues than non-organic produce. You might wonder why there are any pesticide residues at all, but that is because there are factors beyond the control of the organic farmer, such as pesticide drift from adjacent fields or contamination of soil or irrigation water. One way to ensure that you are removing pesticide residues and bacteria is to use naturally safe fruit and vegetable rinses.

Click here to learn about Sunrider's SunSmile Fruit and Vegetable Rinse!

Sugar: The Sweet Deceiver

The average North American consumes a third of a pound of sugar per day. The main reason for this is that we are eating more processed foods with sugar added. And to make it worse, merchants marketing sugar have targeted children as their most lucrative customer. If this is the case, and indeed it is, we must then ask ourselves: What do I really know about the sweet stuff?

We give sugar in the form of gifts, bribes and love offerings, but all the while it is doing damage. The worst part is that sugar is so readily used by the most sincere people for the most innocent of reasons, like bake sales to raise money for schools and charities. Still worse, we regularly give sweets and candies to our children. But sugar destroys our children, because sugar is not a food, it is actually a drug.

Sugar is highly addictive, yet it is used in most processed foods and beverages. We eat it even when we don’t know we’re eating it and then we let our children eat it as a treat! Recent studies suggest that sugar activates the same brain chemicals that fuel heroin and morphine addiction. This may explain why some studies have shown that sugar addiction may lead to such problems as alcoholism and drug addiction later in life.

Besides being addictive, sugar provides only “empty" calories because all vitamins and minerals are stripped out. Because of this, sugar actually leaches the precious vitamins and minerals from the body’s organs, tissues and bones, which can eventually lead to serious health issues.

Some are turning to sugar substitutes like aspartame, saccharin and sucralose, but these chemicals are even more devastating to health. The safest alternative is Stevia, which helps stabilize blood sugar levels and is useful to people with diabetes, hypoglycemia, and Candida. Stevia also regulates blood pressure and acts as a general tonic, which increases energy levels and mental acuity just to name a few of its health benefits, plus Stevia has no harmful side effects.

Click here to learn about Sunrider's Sunny Dew natural sweetener!

For more information on these and other related issues, contact Virginia!