How to Choose the Organic Foods?

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Understand why organic foods should be an important part of your diet. Organic foods are grown with no or fewer chemical or hormonal additives in their growth cycle than conventionally grown produce and meat. This means that laws on organic labeling in many places ban the use of a wide array of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, hormone treatments, antibiotics etc. on any produce or meat destined to carry an organic certification.

2 Choose the crucial dozen organic foods. The dozen foods listed next are considered to be the foods most vulnerable to the addition of too many pesticides, growth hormones, antibiotics etc. This top dozen lists food items where home washing and cooking practices are unlikely to result in reduction of the chemical or hormonal residues:

• Beef, chicken and pork
• Dairy products: Milk, cheese and butter
• Strawberries, raspberries and cherries
• Bananas
• Apples and pears
• Tomatoes
• Spinach and salad greens
• Coffee
• Potatoes
• Stone fruits: Peaches, nectarines and apricots
• Grapes
• Celery
• Peppers (capsicums), green and red

3

Shop for seasonal foods. Seasonally available produce is the budget-conscious shopper's prize. Produce in season is always value for money because it is plentiful and this includes organic produce. In addition, seasonal food often travels less distance as it is grown locally and therefore will keep in better condition (more nutrients), for longer. From a comfort perspective, there is something very calming and traditional about eating the way our ancestors have for centuries; you become attuned to the cycle of the seasons. An added bonus: You are less inclined to overfill your fridge with food that ends up going unnoticed, which saves you money.

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   Eat in moderation. The statistics on obesity continue to rise. We do not need huge quantities of food; too much food makes our bodies sick rather than healthy and happy. While eating in moderation means eating less food overall, it most certainly doesnot mean going without and feeling hungry. Change to eating more energy-sustaining foods, such as organic grains and pulses to bulk out your diet. You will not need to eat as much of these foods, as unlike processed foods, you will feel full faster and for longer. Your budget will go further simply through choosing prime quality organic foods in smaller amounts. Most importantly, eating in moderation will result in less intake of chemical and hormonal residues and that can only be a good outcome for everyone.
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   Eat variety. Variety means including all those vegetables and not just living off potatoes. The more that you vary your diet within seasonal constraints, there is a higher likelihood that you will have less exposure to a build-up of one type of chemical residues. Variety also means an interesting and fulfilling diet, as well as a greater likelihood that you will get all the nutrients, anti-oxidants and fiber that you need to keep healthy.
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   Be realistic. Most nutritionists would still prefer that you eat fruit and vegetables whether they are organic or conventional in origin in preference to highly processed foods. Use the list set out in step 2 to pick the organic foods and then purchase conventional foods for the remainder if you have a tight budget. Taking the simple step of choosing some organics to include in your diet is an important one of taking control over what is potentially affecting your health; whilst you will still be surrounded by the chemical load of our industrial age, you are taking positive action to help yourself and to encourage organic growers at the same time.
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