1. Hormones
Many women today suffer from various hormonal problems including PMS, PMDD and polycystic ovary syndrome. It is very possible that these problems could be exacerbated by our consumption of dairy products. Non-organic milk-producing cows are often injected with hormones in order to force them toc ontinue milk well after their calves have been born, and this estrogen can pass into the milk that we consume. This can cause hormonal imbalance in both women and men, and could be a contributing factor to conditions such as PMS and PMDD in women and gynecomastia in men
2. Antibiotics
The use of antibiotics is possibly the most important reason you should always choose to buy organic meat and dairy. Antibiotics are injected indiscriminately into any meat or dairy producing animal in order to reduce their susceptibility to viruses. The problem with this practice is that viruses adapt to antibiotics, so the more antibiotics are used, the more viruses will learn to adapt. If antibiotics are used excessively it is thought that viruses will eventually mutate intodevastating ‘super-viruses’ that we will then have no defense against.
The major problem with this, of course, is not that it will create a superbug that will wreak havoc among the world’s farm animal population but that it will createa superbug capable of being passed to humans (incidentally a little bit of thoseantibiotics are probably being passed into your system every time you eat a piece of non-organic produce, making your system just that little bit more susceptible to every mutating virus out there). Scientists agree that this incredibly serious problem could be quite easily averted if we could only resist the temptation to over use antibiotics, which seems to melike a very compelling reason to buy only organic produce.
3. Pesticides
The third reason you should choose to buy organic produce is not because you feel bad for all the little insects that are killed by pesticides, but because of the same principle as the virus-mutation that is caused by antibiotics. With excessiveuse of pesticides, insects mutate to be immune to these pesticides, which effectively creates another form of superbug;’ the super-insect.
If pesticides are used in excess, as they are in non-organic farming, genetic mutation in the insect world is likely to occur and new forms of insects will emerge that we will be unable to combat. In the worst case scenario, insects may develop whose sting is seriously poisonous to humans. In the best case scenario, we will have nothing left to combat them with and we will face situations asserious as the biblical locust plague.
Important Reasons to Buy Organic…
Perhaps you don’t care that growth hormone is getting into the food chain dueto contamination from dairy cows or super-viruses are developing due to the excessive use of antibiotics or insect mutations may result from the excessiveuse of pesticides. Even if you don’t care about any of these things, there are still compelling reasons to choose organic produce.
Organic food has been proven to contain higher levels of nutrients than non-organic food. For example, nitrate levels in organic food are on average 15% lower than non-organic food. Organic vegetables have been shown to have 15-50% more secondary nutrients than their non-organic cousins. This means that they contain anywhere from 15- 50% more antioxidants.
Eating organic produce is just one facet of a healthy diet and lifestyle. In order to stay healthy, you must make sure you are getting enough exercise too. A great way of getting enough exercise on a daily basis is to purchase some home gym equipment. If you’re serious about a healthy diet and lifestyle, you should consider purchasing an elliptical trainer. Unlike other pieces of common home-gym equipment, these target several different muscle groups at once. I’m a big fan of elliptical trainers and love the Schwinn elliptical reviews, but it’s always a good idea to shop around online to see which one is best suited to your needs.
About the Author:
As a fitness fanatic and busy mother of two, Ashley Munroe knows all about staying fit and healthy with limited time. Whenever she can escape her desk, she likes to go hiking and camping with her husband and children. On busier days, she enjoys yoga and working out on her elliptical machine at home. She’s a big fan of writing commercial elliptical reviews and thinks everyone should have at least one piece of gym equipment at home.
