Is Eating Organic Really Healthier?
I get a lot of questions from clients at RC Fitness in Houston, TX, about the benefits of eating organic. It does cost more to buy organic food and the first question is always whether it’s that much healthier to justify the cost. There’s good news and bad news. The good news is that when it comes to fresh produce, you don’t have to buy everything organic. However, the bad news is that most of the produce and other foods you buy will actually cost more and there’s a reason. The first is that it costs more to grow. There are also costs in getting certified as organic, fewer subsidies, no chemical intervention to speed growth and additional costs of getting the produce to market.
You can be assured that animal products labeled organic don’t contain hormones.
If you use animal products that were raised organically, the animals are allowed to graze and eat as they did before factory farms. They aren’t given growth hormones or antibiotics and are allowed the freedom of roaming. If they require supplemental food, it must be organic and not have any synthetic additives. All those things are important, not just because of the potential harm from antibiotics and hormones, but also because there are health benefits from free-range and grass-fed animal products. Those products contain higher amounts of healthy nutrients. For instance, the milk from grass-fed cows contain a higher amount of omega 3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid, making it heart healthy.
What does that organic label really mean?
While it’s easy to understand what organically raised produce and animal products are, what about those boxes of cereal on the shelf or that bread? If you grow organic food, your land has to be free from synthetic pesticides and fertilizer for three years before harvest. No GMOs are allowed. There can be no artificial flavors, preservatives, or colors used to create the product.
Save money with the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen list from the EWG—Environmental Working Group.
Every year the EWG tests thousands of samples of non-organic produce across the nation to check for signs of pesticides, which remain even after washing and sometimes peeling. That means the more you eat them, the more pesticide you ingest, unless you opt for organic. They create two lists. The Dirty Dozen is the top twelve foods that are high in pesticides even after washing. The Clean 15 are those fruits and vegetables that are the lowest. To save money, you can buy non-organic produce on the Clean 15 list and stick strictly to organic for the produce on the Dirty Dozen list.
- Pesticides from eating non-organic fruits and vegetables build up in the body and increase the risk of cancer, hormone disruption, brain disorders and nervous system disorders. It can lower the potential for a successful pregnancy by 26%
- Save money with the Clean 15 options onions, avocado, sweet corn, cabbage, pineapple, papaya, asparagus, eggplant, honeydew, cantaloupe, kiwis, frozen sweet peas, onions, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower
- Stick with organic when using fruits and vegetables on the Dirty Dozen plus list. They include strawberries, spinach, apples, kale, nectarines, peaches, grapes, pears, celery, potatoes, tomatoes, cherries and hot peppers as the plus for 2020.
- Hot peppers were added to the list as they were found to contain neurotoxic chemicals that were hazardous when eaten frequently, particularly by children. If they’re cooked, the pesticide levels are reduced.
For more information, contact us today at Reggie C Fitness
If you’re finding it difficult to fit exercise into your day or miss working out several days in a row because “life” happened and the kids needed you, the boss had an emergency or the toilet overflowed, you probably will benefit from switching to a morning routine where you get uninterrupted time for exercise, a healthy breakfast and even a little solitude. You can do it by making a few adjustments and planning ahead.
People often wonder why I focus on helping you find your motivation to stay healthy and get fit. Getting fit isn’t like doing a term paper or doing last year’s taxes. You have to focus on it every day, not just one time or once a year. It involves more than just working out for a half hour a day or even an hour a day. It means you have to identify problems with your diet and learn to eat healthier, establish a program of regular exercise and learn to create new healthier habits, like drinking enough water or getting enough sleep.
Do you feel that sickening, sinking feeling in your stomach all the time? Does your job or even your drive to work make you want to scream? That’s the ultimate definition of stress. Stress can be bad or good. Stress sends out hormones that prepare the body to run or fight and if you’re in imminent danger, that’s good. However, unlike early man, today stress can include many things and running or fighting doesn’t resolve any of them. Your body is left in the fight or flight state, which can cause damage to your body. You can burn off the hormones and get back to normal with these exercises that relieve stress.
What are hormones? Immediately, you probably think of the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone, but there are far more types. Hormones are the body’s messengers. They bring the messages that start the chemical processes. That puts them in charge of everything from growth rate and mood to how your immune system functions. Your hormones affect weight loss and fat storage, too. Not only does that include sexual differences on the storage of fat, but also the storage of fat in the abdomen, belly fat.
At RC Fitness in Houston, TX, we focus on helping you achieve the best version of yourself. Part of that process is losing weight for some clients. That brings the question of the best way to lose weight. Should you count calories or macronutrients? There is no simple answer, since it’s a personal preference that should be based on your goals, lifestyle and needs. Do you feel the need to be completely accurate or is a more relaxed option better? What’s your relationship with food? Do you want something that’s easy to use the rest of your life or more concise for right now?
I have clients all over the world, many are from Houston, TX, and other towns near me. Most of my clients want that toned, lean look that’s so sexy. Most people are historically predisposed to hunting for a mate that looks healthy. It’s part of the evolutionary past that might have occurred because a healthier-looking person was more likely to provide healthy off springs. While trends for what is considered attractive change, one thing is certain, working out with small weights can help you get the healthy, curvy look that’s so popular now. Not only does it make you more attractive, it also makes you stay healthier.
If you want to look your best, you need both a healthy diet and regular exercise. As you’re working out, you’re building muscle tissue, but you’re also burning calories. That means you’re actually burning fat tissue. You want more muscle tissue and less fat tissue, since muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue does, so it makes it easier to lose weight. If you’re building muscle tissue and burning fat, you may even find your weight loss is slower. That’s because muscle tissue weighs more per cubic inch than fat tissue does. So how do you diet without losing muscle? One thing is certain, it takes exercise.
Working out can help tone your body and give you the fit look you want. While spot exercising won’t remove fat from certain locations, it burns calories that burns fat from the entire body and tone the muscles in the areas you work. You can’t do spot exercises for weight loss in a certain area of the body, but you can tone the muscles and take away the flabby appearance. In fact, you can actually do exercises to tone arms or any other part of the body. Toning the arms helps you look great in sleeveless tops and beachwear.