Eating Organics

We all know that we should strive to improve our diets to allow our bodies to absorb the nutrients we need for all of our daily activities.  If you are an athlete or typical weight lifter, hopefully you understand the importance of a well-balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.  The truth is, most of your results from training are directly related to what you are feeding your body.  I love telling my athletes-”you are what you eat.  If you eat cookies all day then you will turn into a cookie”.  Think about that for a second and you will realize just how true that statement is.

This post is not intended to tell you how to eat….well maybe it is.  I would like this post to be more of a recommendation of how to improve the choices you may already be making by eating organics.  I am going to relate the term “organic” in the connection to foods as being naturally grown, and without chemicals or preservatives.

In today’s society, it is very hard to get foods that are not chemically altered with preservatives or has been sprayed with pesticides, or injected with hormones.  All of these I truly believe at one time were designed with the best of intentions to provide people with plenty of good-looking foods.  Although I have no proof, it is my belief that there is a link to the increase of cancers we are seeing because of these food-producing practices.  Again, this is just a theory.

Making better choices in the foods we eat that are labeled “organic” would be a good start but it is almost impossible to avoid all altered food. I think one of the easiest areas to focus in on is with the vegetables we eat.  It is very easy to find organic vegetables in just about any grocery store these days.  The only problem is the price.  It is a bit more expensive than the non-organic vegetables.  In my video I gave two ideas to get your veggies without breaking the bank.  The first, is you can plant a garden and grow your own.  This is a great option if you have the ability to do so and it is a great feeling knowing exactly how your food was grown.  Obviously, this is seasonal so canning veggies for the colder months is a must.  The other way is to go to farmers markets to buy your vegetables and fruits.  Be careful though, just because it is a farmers market does not mean the produce is organic.  Talk to the farmers and ask very direct questions.  You will be able to find the organic farmers if you look hard enough.  It will always be much cheaper to by fruits and vegetables at a farmers market than in a grocery store.  Plus, you will be supporting a farmer which is a win-win for everyone.

Just making these small changes can really add up to some very important health benefits.   I find it very sad that in this day and age, healthy foods are so expensive in stores and unhealthy foods can be picked up pretty cheap.  I am convinced that if we switched the pricing scales on certain foods and yes even tax certain junk foods that there would be a positive chain of events that would take place.  Raise the prices or tax high processed and junk foods which lead to obesity and disease.  Give these funds and tax breaks to organic farmers so “real” healthy foods are cheaper.  Fact-most people buy foods based on price.  This would result in a big percentage of the population’s diet improving.  This would improve people’s health, they would not get sick as often, and if they don’t get sick as often and don’t require surgeries, etc… The costs of health care would go down.  If health care costs go down, there is more money in business and in people’s pockets.  This stimulates the economy and so on.  I know I might be reaching a little bit here with this thought process but it does make sense to me.

Sure you are still going to have your fast food junkies but the numbers would be lower.  The numbers of smokers has decreased over the years because of rising prices and taxes.  Lung cancer has also gone down slightly over the years as a direct result to this.  So I think there might be some merit to my thought process.  It’s just something to think about.

Making small little changes can really add up to big benefits when done over time.  I hope this little post is a good reminder of the roles that nutrition plays in your body.  Make a small change towards organics and see for yourself if you feel better after a month or two.  Also, take notice that you will be less likely to get sick and watch your energy level rise.

Hope that helps!

To your health,

Jerry