Why all the hype about organic food?

As you browse your local store, looking for inspiration to feed the family, you may wonder whether organic is really any better than regular foods. After all, organic is the buzz word these days, so there must be something in it. And consumers are forcing the demand, while marketers are only too happy to find ways of getting us to part with our money

For a moment, let’s ignore those with financial interests driving their complicated claim that organic makes no difference and look at simple reasons why organic really is better for you.

Traditional farmers -

• Use insecticides to keep their crops insect- and disease-free
• Control weed infestation with synthetic herbicides

Organic farmers –

• Use natural predators and barriers to keep insects and disease under control
• Use crop rotation, mulches, cover crops and weeding by hand to control weeds

This leaves conventional foods contaminated with excess chemicals, which due to build-up can be harmful to humans. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers 60% of herbicides, 30% of insecticides and 90% of fungicides to be carcinogenic

Now those stats alone are enough alert any thinking person to the health dangers involved in supermarket foods. And for our future, as Dr Mercola says - You don't need to have a medical degree to know that anything that kills insects and other living creatures is not likely to be very good for developing babies. One of the most important things a pregnant woman can do is avoid these chemicals as if her baby's life depended on it.

Pesticides play havoc with the immune system, disturbing hormones, causing neurotoxicity and increasing the carcinogens and free radicals in the body. Exposure to pesticides have also been linked to the male reproductive function

Some foods likely to have high levels of pesticides:

Fruit	Vegetables
Peaches	Hot Peppers
Apples	Bell peppers
Strawberries	Celery
Nectarines	Potatoes
Pears
Cherries
Red raspberries
Imported grapes

Whilst the following might contain fewer pesticides:

Pineapples	Cauliflower
Mangoes	Brussels sprouts
Bananas	Asparagus
Watermelon	Radishes
Plums	Broccoli
Kiwi fruit	Onions
Blueberries	Papaya
Grapefruit

And more than the contamination of our food, regular produce has a propensity to carry fewer of the nutrients we depend on for good health. Studies find significantly higher levels of Vitamin C, phosphorous, magnesium and iron in organic products, while also finding appreciably lower levels of toxins such as nitrates.

So while different voices argue the point – stick with the basics – you don’t want to mess up your immune system and become susceptible to disease as a result. Keep using organic foods wherever you can, but be sensible at the same time – if you can’t afford organic, don’t stop eating Real Food all the same!


Further reading:

Environmental Protection Agency of Queensland, Australia

Environmental Protection Agency of Ireland

Dr Mercola on Organic produce

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Pumpkin Soup

1/2 a medium pumpkin - seeded, peeled and cut in chunks
1 medium courgette - thick slices
8 button mushrooms chunked
1 medium leek - thick slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 heaped teaspoons Marigold veg stock powder
Boiling water to cover
A little chili powder - to taste
1 tablespoon fresh Italian parsley - chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives – chopped
Coriander – chopped, to serve
Yoghurt or cream – to serve

Serves 4

Brown the veggies in the oil till all are covered, not burned
Add the spices, stock and herbs – stir well
Cover with water to about half an inch above the veggies
Stir again
Cover and simmer very gently for 10 minutes
Turn off the heat and leave for 20 minutes
Liquidize
Re-heat to just under boiling
Serve with cream or plain yogurt drizzled over, and chopped coriander

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Hope for allergy sufferers?

Allergy vaccine hopes get boost, so says Richard Black, BBC science correspondence

“Medical researchers have obtained promising results from a trial of a genetically-engineered allergy vaccine.

During the trial, conducted in Austria, Sweden and France, the vaccine significantly reduced peoples' allergic response to pollen.

The team says it is already developing further GM vaccines to combat other allergies”

Some estimates reveal that a quarter of the world’s population could be allergic to something; so many unhappy sniffling, sneezing and coughing people around the world will welcome this news

However, further into the article, Black writes “But although these can work well, they can also produce major side-effects.”

As with many other pharmaceutical drugs, somehow the cause of the allergies has been quietly by-passed, and all this new genetically modified drug can ever do is mask the symptoms so that we feel better - whilst our body gets sicker with side effects, more likely on top of other drugs for other conditions which carry more side-effects. And so the debilitation goes on, with no real hope of ever being fully well again

Why not get to the cause instead?

Allergies are frequently caused by food sensitivities, and while we are not aware of their causing the problem, allergens such as pollen and house mites will tip the scales and produce the attacks that leave us utterly miserable:

• Whilst asthma has long been classed as an allergy, it is in fact rooted in a food sensitivity, most often dairy or wheat or sugar
• Dry eyes, not always connected to allergies, are a symptom of an Omega-3 deficiency
• Sinus problems can be a thing of the past if you give up dairy products

Ten suggestions to rid you of allergies forever:

1. Speak to a nutritionally trained health practitioner
2. Food sensitivity tests are readily available to find your specific sensitivity
3. Or you can eliminate trigger foods from your diet for one month at a time – i.e. no dairy foods for one month, then no wheat, no sugar, etc
4. Once you have found your sensitivity, stay off that food (or foods) for a minimum of six months, and then SLOWLY re-introduce the offending food.
5. If you reintroduce too quickly your sensitivity could come back with a vengeance!
6. Supplement with pharmaceutical grade Omega-3 Fish Oil (deficiencies of this essential fat can exacerbate food sensitivities)
7. Increase fresh fruit and vegetables, with lots of raw and juiced foods
8. Eliminate bad fats such as margarine, sunflower and cheap olive oils
9. Eliminate processed foods from your diet
10. Get good exercise at least three times a week

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Why do I experience cramps at night?

People who experience cramping often lack magnesium-rich foods in their diet, do not exercise regularly, sit around a lot and eat an excess of foods which reduce their calcium levels, such as grains, fizzy drinks, animal foods, caffeinated beverages, processed foods high in phosphates and refined sugars.

Muscle cramps can also be due to many other influences, and if the cramping becomes severe, all of these possibilities need to be eliminated:

• Deficiencies in magnesium, iron, calcium, vitamin E and/or folic acid
• Low thyroid function
• Past injury
• Dietary imbalances
• Food allergies
• Excessive coffee consumption
• Poor posture
• Spinal problems
• Uncomfortable footwear
• Heart problems
• Diabetes
• Arthritis
• General fatigue

Another influence is that diuretic medication tends to exacerbate cramps and spasms as they deplete the body of essential minerals, especially calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Muscle cramps, particularly in the calf muscles, can also occur because of a lack of sodium in the body. To prevent this, take a half a teaspoon of organic sea salt or Celtic salt in a glass of water once a day. If you have quite high blood pressure, then rather take an electrolyte mixture. Rosemary, lavender, marjoram, chamomile, or clary sage essential oil massaged into the affected area can provide rapid relief of most muscle cramping.

What can you do?

Diet: Concentrate on an organic, whole food diet high in magnesium and calcium-rich foods, such as green leafy vegetables, fruits (particularly apricots), millet, raw nuts and seeds, organic yogurt (unless very sensitive to dairy products), and raw organic honey. Reduce your intake of citrus fruits, meats, and grains (don’t stop them, eat less of them) and eliminate coffee and other caffeine drinks. Make sure you drink plenty of pure distilled water throughout the day.

Nutritional Supplementation: These nutrients are very helpful in the relief and preventing muscle cramps:

• Calcium with magnesium
• Potassium
• Silica
• Trace minerals
• Multi-mineral supplement
• Vitamin B complex
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin B3 (niacin)
• Folic acid
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Chlorophyll

Juice Therapy: Carrot, beet, celery, and cucumber juice can provide your body with vital nutrients to minimize your risk of cramping.

Topical Treatment: Massage cramping muscles with a mixture of grated ginger juice and equal parts olive or sesame oil. Repeat as needed throughout the day.

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What are vitamins?

Two groups of vitamins are present in the body – water soluble (C and all B vitamins), which are found in all watery components of cells; and fat soluble vitamins such as A, D, E and K, found in the fatty cell compartments such as membranes.

There are more than 20 vitamins, each having different chemical structures and roles within the body, which are used in many unique ways. For example, Vitamin C is used to form collagen, which is produced by ribosomes and exported from the cells to form collagen systems. During this process a substance called hydroxylproline from an amino acid, is formed, but if there is no Vitamin C available, the process cannot be completed. The first sign of this process breaking down is found in weak blood vessels and loose teeth. Collagen holds teeth in their sockets, so this simple deduction was first discovered when scurvy became rife amongst sailors who lacked fresh vegetables and fruit for months on end. Hence limes and lemons became an important part of their diet.

However, nowadays there is minimal Vitamin C found in citrus fruit, due to deficient soils and lack of sunshine at ripening, hence the necessity to supplement with good doses of Vitamin C on a daily basis. We are able to store some vitamins, and whilst Vitamin C is not one of them, Vitamin A is well stored in the liver, so be careful of over dosing!

In 1912, Polish scientist Casimir Funk described natural food substances that are essential for life when working on symptoms of beriberi. Funk suggested that these four precise diseases were caused by a lack of ‘amines’ in the diet:

Rickets – lack of Vitamin D caused ‘softening’ of the bones

Scurvy – lack of Vitamin C caused blood loss from leaking blood vessels

Pellagra –lack of Vitamin B3 caused skin changes, constant diarrhea and dementia

Beriberi – lack of Vitamin B1 caused pain in the limbs, weak muscles and enlarged and weak heart

Most vitamins are not produced in our bodies, and so we need to find them in our food. Common thinking is often that if we eat a ‘healthy’ diet of lots of fresh vegetables, fruit, legumes, grains, nuts, seeds and good protein.

We can get all of the vitamins we need in our food

Sorry about this, but the answer is no. Unless, of course you are growing all of your own food under perfect organic conditions, with soils that are rich in ALL the nutrients we need. As we’ve said before – organic is great, but the soil the food came from has to be very nutrient rich.

Independent studies conducted in the United States, and the United Kingdom amongst other countries reveal that the nutrient content of our food has fallen substantially over the past few decades. The table below gives examples of potatoes sold in Canada between 1951 and 1999.

Potatoes, one potato, peeled before boiling, 136g. 100/136=.74

	Calcium (mg)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin A (I.U.)	Vitamin C (mg)	Thiamine (mg)	Riboflavin (mg)	Niacin (mg)
1951	11.00	0.70	20.00	17.00	0.11	0.04	1.20
1972	5.74	0.49	0.00	16.39	0.09	0.03	1.15
1999	7.97	0.30	0.00	7.25	0.09	0.02	1.74
% Change	-27.55	-57.14	-100	-57.35	-18.18	-50.00	-45.00

See also:United Kingdom - Meat and diary: where have all the minerals gone? Food Magazine 72, pub. by The Food Commission, UK. Jan/Mar 2006.

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