Not too long ago, if you wanted to find a decent selection of organic products, you had to go to a specialty health food store. Now you can find organic produce, meats, dairy products and more at almost any grocery store. There is no question that organic foods have increased in popularity in recent years, but many people still have questions about these products. Perhaps the most common question is, are organic foods really better than regular foods?

This question has been debated a lot in recent years, with some people heavily promoting organic foods, while others claim they are no better than the regular foods you eat. Both sides have some evidence to support their opinion, but some of this evidence is a little misleading. The first important thing to note about this debate is nobody is saying that organic foods are less healthy or in any way inferior to regular foods. The people defending regular foods are just trying to say they have no additional benefits.

The main evidence against the need for organic foods comes from nutrient comparisons that have been made between organic and regular foods. Lab tests have found that organic foods may not contain significantly more nutrients than other foods and defenders of regular foods have taken this to mean that organic foods are not any better or healthier than other foods. If the amount of nutrients in a food was the only thing that mattered, then this would be a compelling argument against the need for organic foods, but the amount of nutrients is just one component of food.

Probably the best quality of organic foods has nothing to do with how many nutrients they have, but rather what they don’t have. Regular foods often have undesirable things added to them during their growing and/or processing phases. For example, fruits and vegetables are often treated with pesticides or other unhealthy substances. Foods can contain pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, or worse, and this information will not be shown anywhere on the food label. However, organic products have to follow strict regulations, which include not using unhealthy substances like pesticides at any point from start to finished product.

By not having these unhealthy ingredients, organic foods are unquestionably healthier than their regular counterparts, even if the foods have the same amount of nutrients. Basically every food has some things that are good for you and some things that are bad for you and products that have a lot of healthy features with few unhealthy ones are the healthiest foods and vice versa. Therefore, even if a food has a decent amount of nutrients, it can still be unhealthy if it also contains a lot of things that are bad for you.

For example, cold water salmon is incredibly healthy, because it contains quality protein and high levels of EPA and DHA, which are the healthiest Omega-3 fats. However, if you take salmon and deep fry it, you end up adding unhealthy substances, which lowers the overall healthiness of the food. While this has nothing to do with whether or not the food is organic, you can make the analogy that the organic food is the original salmon and the regular food is what you get after frying it.

To be fair, the difference in healthiness between an organic and regular food is not as big as the difference between fresh and fried salmon, but the analogy is accurate in the sense that both regular foods and fried salmon have a higher amount of ingredients that are bad for your health. Unfortunately, it is very hard to determine the actual impact on your health, because the extra substances found in traditional products may not visibly affect your body until years or even decades down the road. This makes it difficult to figure out the true benefit you get from eating organic foods.

Another issue is that the benefits of eating organic foods vary from product to product and some regular foods are not much different than their organic counterpart, while there is a big difference between others. The problem is you have no way of knowing how the regular foods are made, so you will not know what unhealthy substances they contain. One of the reasons people like to buy organic is because they don’t have to worry about all the unknown extras that might be in their food.

There is one more benefit to organic foods that is not talked about as much, which is that organic foods typically have more taste than traditional foods, especially when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables. Regular produce can taste almost like a watered down version of organic produce and this is certainly something people take into account when deciding whether or not to buy organic foods.

While it is not possible to say exactly how much better organic foods are than regular ones, it is hard to argue that they are not at least somewhat healthier than traditional foods. If they did not cost more than other foods, there probably would not be any interest in this issue, because everyone would choose to eat organic products. Of course, they do cost more, so the question at the heart of the matter is whether or not organic foods are worth the extra cost, but that is an issue for another time.

Ross Harrison, CSCS, NSCA-CPT is a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning specialist, nutritional consultant, and has a BA in psychology from Grinnell College. He takes a holistic approach to health and fitness and teaches people how to lose weight, get in shape, and improve their quality of life with exercise and nutrition. If you want to find out more about his services or contact him for any reason, please visit http://precisionhealth-fitness.com/.

Best recipes, ethical food and organic food has become the buzz words in many instances and scenarios where the two words are used to get the attention of people who are interested in healthy eating. Many of these references to organic/ethical food may have you wondering just what truly organic food is and how it fits in to your lifestyle to help provide your family with healthy eating choices. One fact is certain, deciding on organic food means that your choices are made from high quality food that is marketed and produced in a safe way that people can trust. Gaining access to organic foods is one of the best ways to start on the path to healthy eating.

Whether you are responsible for preparing meals for an entire family or just yourself, the choice to eat health means taking the time to learn exactly what constitutes a nutritious eating regimen that is also not boring. One of the quickest ways to lose sight of the importance of eating right is to find yourself bored with your food choices. One way to recognize ethical food is to learn to read labels. The traffic light labelling system includes green dot items. These items are placed on foods that have no more than 3 grams of fat and have low salt, high fibre and are low in saturated fats.

It is important to understand that organic foods are grown under some of the best growing condition but may not always be in the green dot category. The amber dot represents medium levels of fat, salt, fibre and saturated fat. And just as the red light in traffic signals indicates you should stop, foods tagged with a red dot are high in sugars, salts and fat. Such foods should only be had as a treat on occasion and in moderation.

To achieve healthy eating with organic foods, your diet should contain plenty of vegetables and fruit, bread, rice, potatoes and pastas. Milk and dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, beans and non-dairy sources are essential and a small amount of high fat or high sugar beverages and foods can be tempered in but are not absolutely necessary. With the right healthy balance of organic foods from these groups, many health risks such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and bowel disorders can be reduced or eliminated entirely. In avoiding giving up entirely foods you enjoy the most, you can enjoy these healthy organic food choices and create an overall balance that promotes healthy eating regularly.

To find the best recipes on all organic food, go online and you will find recipes for ethical food with a range of meals that your family are sure to love.