There is not a whole lot of research comparing organic foods versus commercial foods when it comes to various nutrients. Here is an article about some research called "Organic Tomatoes Better For Heart And Blood Pressure" that has some interesting results.

You always find the best articles, Bryan. I'm going to switch up my diet so I eat far less commercial produce...it's so expensive to have organic, but I think I'm going to ask for some gardening products for my birthday so I can have my own.

Thanks Bryan, for finding and sharing that article.

I just got on a waiting list this week for co-op shares in produce delivered from a local organic farm, so next year I'll be getting almost all organic produce! Plus I'll also have my own organic food that I'll grow in a public garden that I'm also on a waiting list for. Can't wait!

Sharrhan:


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Man.. we are still in the age where our agricultural and social health practices are informed and driven by a structure based on materialistic values eh. IMO as long as the collective mindset is formed by individuals who place material gain above peace or mental harmony, then we inevitably make choices which produce self destructive habbits, practices and conclusions. I feel that the standard adherence and faith in the SAD diet is just one part of this. All the studies such as the one from the link above where people have to "prove" the value of something so obviously benificial is just an aspect of this mindset. Thank god we are finaly waking up hooraaay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2007 01:14AM by Lightform.

Thank You for the article Bryan.

Yesterday I heard Alyson Mitchell, who led the research, interviewed on radio.

She seemed to think it had a lot to do w/ fertilizer.

Commercial fertilizer gives the plant lots of nitrogen right away which tends to make the plant grow quickly. Organic fertilizer (compost etc.) has the plant taking longer to get it's nutrients so it tends to be more chemically balanced which means more flavonoids, vitamin C etc. for us.

I was pleased w/ the host for at the end of the interview he asked which type of produce SHE eats. She said organic.

Kit

yeah, it uses alot of terms like "health-promoting food", and how something with "more lycopene" might be better. Doesn't seem like something you would promote as truths but..ok


the part about nitrogen is interesting. its kind of the whole: if you give something everything it needs it won't produce it on its own, kind of thinking (this applies to you folks taking enzymes! IMHO that is)

organic food is healthier because it has less crap in it and probablly more nutrients. It also tends to taste better when comparing two equally fresh ripe things, but doesn't supercede ripe or fresh or plantfoods (organic milk? yes take your mucus in organic form, sounds divine). But to me I have to agree with the article that you don't need to eat organic to be healthy, and even though their deffinition of healthy is...well different then mine, I have to say there should be NO reason why raw folks would have to worry more about conventional produce.

Why would you become debilitated from eating slighly not ideal whole plant foods when you have likely lived/eaten the most contaminated-processed-horrendously-combined, hormone-and-drug-invested-supplemented with seasonal-over-the-counter-perscription drug-sippin-beer-drinkin-caffeine-gulping-non-rest-fest-that-it-is-astonishing-you-are still-alive. makes NO sense to me.

Yeah I definately agree with you on the improvement of just eating raw anaken, but I definately feel that our current practices in commercial farming are quite unhealthy. I'm sure that you still have the basic nutrients in commercialy grown produce but you also get an array of not so good chemicals
I've herd alot of stories about people having health problems related to them and having to remove or reduce the amount of certain raw foods to fix the problem. I think most of these people have conventional diets.. but it just goes to show how much poisoning the commercial produce recieves by the time we get to eat it.

i just did an experiment with conventional produce, and what happened was that my throat was injured (i'm fairly certain) by the ingestion of the produce. i think it was mostly caused by watermelon, but probably some other items also. i'm recovering now after going back to mostly organics...

Oh yeah.. another thing I forgot to mention is that I found out that the plastic gloves that the fresh produce handlers use in supermarkets is actualy not for hygiene as everyone thinks, but is actualy to stop the handlers skin from going black from the sprays :/ Yikes !!

anaken wrote:

"if you give something everything it needs it won't produce it on its own, kind of thinking (this applies to you folks taking enzymes! IMHO that is)"

Interesting theory and probably true, but in the case of enzymes it doesn't apply as the enzymes we are allotted at birth do not regenerate and so live food is our primary source of enzymes - and then secondarily supplementation, if the individual so chooses.


"Why would you become debilitated from eating slighly not ideal whole plant foods when you have likely lived/eaten the most contaminated-processed-horrendously-combined, hormone-and-drug-invested-supplemented with seasonal-over-the-counter-perscription drug-sippin-beer-drinkin-caffeine-gulping-non-rest-fest-that-it-is-astonishing-you-are still-alive. makes NO sense to me."

This IS interesting too. It goes to show how quickly the body adapts to changes. Like fresh, I've been experimenting with eating more conventional produce too (wanting to save some dough for the RawSpiritFest) and I can most certainly taste the difference, if not feel. There are a few veggies and fruits that I won't touch conventionally grown like celery and apples and the zucchini kinda creeps me out too, but from the beginning I've blended organic and conventional in my diet and so haven't developed a high sensitivity toward less than ideal plant food. And I think that's basically what happens - it's in removing something from our diet that we become sensitive to its effects, otherwise we are oblivious. And this seems to hold true for even the worse kinda junk as I have friends blissfully eating Ding Dongs with no apparent ill effects at all.

Still anaken, your point is well-taken. Better to eat tons of conventionally grown produce than to not eat produce at all.

khale

fresh...symptoms caused by fruit? the ammount of toxin/pesticide would have to be very high I would assume.

khale, my point is more then that. all the 'foods' people commonly eat have TONS of pesticides/chemicals. not to mention the substances themselves are incredibly harmful in a variety of ways to the body. If one eliminates these foods (which also are known to cause deffiencies) why would a diet that contains conventional produce be less health forming, if one was properly cleansing.

I think people are often scared into thinking they need to limit themselves to organic stuff, and end up eating organic almond butter or organic dried apricots. healing is about leaving out the crap. and during this process, most foods just turn to crap anyway inside.

the enzyme thing I was just throwing in there, its certainly off-topic, but my understanding is that the enzymes we use to digest food, are not the same as those in food. your body secretes certain enzymes to digest certain foods which is why its best not to combine foods, or to combine them inproperly. Some people might need/benefit from temporarily taking digestive enzymes, sure, but I stand by my theory.

theres commercial stuff that I don't touch either. and i tend to not eat the skins of many fruits anyway, commercial or not.

I don't think symptoms result from inferior nutrients, and my personal belief is that the pesicide load in washed/pealed produce is less signifigant to environmental air quality and of course the internal toxins of lifetimes of toxin ingestion.

as for people who are/are-not sensitive to harmful things. you certainly know MY take on that. People that are internally clean will have more adverse responses to crap, whether its food/air/water whathaveyou. One could *maybe* develop sensitivities towards even small ammounts of poison, but folks still manage to function driving in a car breathing exhaust all day, so I suspect not so much.

If someone was living on a farm in Hawaii, maybe, but after many years of being very clean and healthy, But at the same time I'm quite sure their body would cope quite well to eliminating any commercial residue VERY quickly

I think people should do their best to eat organic, be somewhat cautious although not neurotic about the more heavily sprayed stuff, and by and large eat what makes them happy, not by what they think is healthy or harmful. I also believe that food ultimately is the only expense, so splurging on organic is definitely an option for most folks if they look hard enough.

just my take



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2007 09:41PM by anaken.