Growing up I had little chance of developing a habit of eating fresh fruit. My dad would buy an equal amount of apples and oranges and cheese twists, cookies, pop and fruit punch. We children always had a choice of what we wanted, and we always chose the junk food. You know we had a lot of rotten fruit and taste buds spoiled for good nutrition. Over the years I made myself eat fruit; I did love vegetables, though. It took a major health challenge nearly 20 years ago that forced me to enter for the first time a natural health food store and another health issue about 10 years ago that put me on the path to eating organic foods. This is where I plan to stay.
Organic means that “the produce and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Animals that produce meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products do not take antibiotics or growth hormones” (Organic.org). As a result, you get food closer to the way God intended for it to be. My husband, who is frugal and has historically eaten whatever is given to him, was ready to return to conventionally-grown produce once I completed my nutritional healing plan that included organic produce. When he did, we both noticed that the produce didn’t taste as good as the organic.
Now most of our produce and many products we buy are organic. People wonder if organic foods are more nutritious and otherwise healthier for you than non-organic products. The general consensus among traditional healthcare providers is still out, though some scientists are discovering organic to be better. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found organic oranges had more Vitamin C and phytochemicals (plant chemicals with protective and disease-preventive properties) than non-organic ones, and those elsewhere found organic produce to be higher in antioxidants. Studies aside, my husband and I reasoned that we’d rather spend the extra money that organic products sometimes cost than to spend it later on healthcare for illnesses we may get from modified foods that were never intended for human consumption.
Eating organic has helped me in two major ways: 1) I desire healthy food. My taste buds now dance instead of dismiss fresh fruit. I now eat better without forcing myself to do so. 2) I detox more fully. When I fast, my body not only dispels old fecal matter but flushes out old toxins without digesting new ones. Click here for other reasons to eat organic.
When I started my journey to organic eating, I didn’t know where to begin. Now there is a ton of information available to help you get started. Be sure to read next week’s Friday Feature where I give you tips on how to select and save money on organic products. In the meantime, check out these websites (Organic.org and Living Maxwell) and let me know what you find. And those of you who have been eating organically, I would love to hear about the benefits you have experienced.
Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith
Ok, so I have a question. I am very conscious of our family’s budget and for years we have been off and on the organic food train. I try to by organic processed foods (like cereal, animal crackers, granola bars, etc.) for the kids, but I have not bought a lot of organic produce because of the cost. When I did buy free-range meats or eggs for myself, it was very costly. Now that we are eating more meat free, we will be consuming a lot more produce (and we already eat a lot).
So where do you shop? (I used to go to Natural Food Patch, but we moved too far away to go now. And Costco has many organic options.)
And have do you save on the cost of having an organic lifestyle? Thanks for the help.
Hi Ajene,
What a good question that I plan to answer in an entire post next Friday. But let me give you a preview now. I shop at the Natural Food Patch, Trader Joe’s and some farmer’s markets. Mail order and coops are also options. I will give details to these and some other money saving tips to buying organic. I hope this little bit helps.
AWW man, you’re gonna make me wait a whole week…lol. Great info, just wanted to know if I was on the right track. I do a lot of couponing and it is much more challenging to save on healthy foods, and where we live now I am at least 20 mins. from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Looking forward to the next post.
Hi Kingdom Mommy, also check with Kroger Meat Dept. …Some locations sell organic meat that you can catch at a marked-down price. The store in Livonia on five-mile east of Merriman usually have a sale Tuesday-Wednesday mornings….I get it for half priced, clean it and then freeze for later. Their organic vegetables is cheap sometimes as well as Meijers…continue to shop around for price and quality too. My preferences for vegetables are Natural Food Patch and Traders Joe…another tip is to clean your vegetables (organic or not) very well including bananas.
Hi Minister Rhonda,
YOU ARE HELPING ME!
When I got home today after
church I cleaned and made my collards per your instructions…that is, without meat.
I must tell you that I was hesitant at first because who ever heard of cooking greens
without smoked turkey or ham hocks with it…not in my lifetime. However, I prepared
them today and they were scrumptiously delicious…yummy, yummy.
Now that the greens are done, I turned
on my PC to catch up on your Friday blog because I knew it would be health
related. The title reminded me of years
ago when I ate organic foods, and juiced every morning for years. (This was prior
to my diagnoses of breast cancer in 2008.) I had done the things outlined in your note
faithfully, so I knew first-hand from my own experiences how well they worked. Also,
with my laboratory results coming back within normal ranges, I was confident that
no major illness would conquer this “body of mine”. No-way.!
Then the diagnosis came ….shortly
thereafter I slowly lost my motivation to live healthy. I began to slack off by
eating all kinds of foods including sweets, fast foods, and meats, etc. I
rarely exercised but complained of the excessive weight gain. Finally, I had to
face the moment of truth which is now three years later that I will need to do
things differently to serve my family and my Lord Jesus Christ, however long in
this lifetime. The on-going aches and pains, blood pressure vacillating, and headaches,
etc., were all tale -tale signs of rapid deterioration taking place in this “body of mine”.
Yes, it was your blog on health that
grabbed my attention. Since then I have slowly re-implemented the things I know
to do. After a full week of juicing and exercising again, I am happy to report
how good my body feels, plus I have easily loss seven pounds….YEA!!!!!
Thank you Min. Rhonda….keep on
writing…Love you much Deaconess Ruth
Deaconess Ruth,
I praise God for your testimony! God has given us what we need for life and godliness. I am so glad that I could be used to remind you of what God had already shown you for your body. Keep up the good work to get your body in optimum shape to give God the glory.