I think most people are aware nowadays that we live in a chemical world… they’re everywhere – in our water, the air we breathe, the creams we use on our skin, our household cleaners, it seems escaping them is quite the triumph.

Obviously, the food that we take into our bodies makes a massive difference to the toxins we are ingesting on a daily basis If we eat ‘clean’ food then we are going to go a long way towards improving our overall toxicity and therefore have a massive impact on our health and wellbeing.
However, there are many thought’s and opinions about eating organic foods. Are they really organic? Will it really make a difference?

It will.

Even if the ‘organic’ food you are buying and eating isn’t as ‘organic’ as it should be there is still a likelihood that it is going to be far less toxic than the alternative, ‘chemical’ food that is available. I only buy organic on principle (as well as for the health benefits), if there is no demand from consumers for ‘nonchemical’, food then the shops won’t stock it and the producers won’t grow it. The power is in our hands as consumers to make choices that serve us and ensure the wellbeing of the planet. In an ideal world, we would all grow our own produce and even the roadside verges would be awash with fruits and vegetables, but that doesn’t happen for most people I know. A small amount of homegrown garden veg? Maybe. But certainly not a wide variety all year round – maybe one day!

Realistically, when you’re shopping it’s not always easy to buy organic because it’s often not available. When this kind of situation arises, I’d say there are certain things that are particularly ‘dirty’ and really should be avoided.

You can find lists of the most chemical ridden fresh foods (The Dirty Dozen) and also those with relatively little chemical corruption, with a simple internet search. I’m not going to list them here, but as a general rule of thumb think about the soft more delicate produce as having more chemicals on them to keep them looking lush for longer, eg. strawberries, grapes, spinach.

Produce with skin (that you take off when you eat it), is generally less toxic – things like avocados, coconuts, and melons. That is very general, as some delicate things are not as susceptible to disease and decay so don’t warrant as many chemicals in their growing and storage phase, so please do some further research into your most frequent trolley essentials before your next supermarket trip.

For me, personally, I will not negotiate a non-organic apple or pear – whatever lethal cocktail of chemicals are used on these is guaranteed to make me bloated and give me the stomach ache. Carrots are another danger area, they take the chemicals from above and suck them up from below! It’s easy to get hold of organic carrots, and as a bonus they taste so much more ‘carroty’!
Generally, organic food does taste better. The flavour comes from the sunshine causing the produce to develop nutrients within to become ripe and ready for us to eat. It’s the developing of the natural sugars, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that taste good, nature made it that way so we would be tempted to eat them at the ‘right’ time… the right time for our health!