Can Organic Food Help With Weight Loss?

By Chef Murph

Can Organic Food Help With Weight Loss?

Successful weight loss regimens recognize the importance of eating high quality food while trying to lose weight. All calories are not equal, because different foods are processed differently by the body, But getting the highest nutrition and speed of delivery to your table is key.

Note: That is why frozen vegges can be healthier and safer out of season. If you have not canned. Frozen vegges have been washed, flashed frozen and packaged anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour after being harvested, locking in nutritional values.

An example good practices when dealing with sugars. I the eating a cookie instead of an apple as an afternoon snack. Both are sweet, but the way the body processes them is different. The sugars in the cookie quickly hit the bloodstream causing insulin to spike, and because those sugars are digested very quickly, this causes the body to store those calories as fat. As per the sugars in the apple enter the bloodstream more slowly due to its high fiber content and the apple provides other nutrients, including vitamin C and vitamin. Steady blood sugar levels decrease the risk of developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The apple supports successful weight loss; the cookie does not..  White Sugars in white rice, white breads spice blood sugars where as brown rice and whole wheat breads have a slow long burn keeping you full longer.

Taking this logic a step further, choosing to eat organic food makes sense, especially when attempting to lose weight. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and fish, staples of a weight loss diet, are only as good as the soils and cultivation methods used to grow or raise them. Poor soil, pesticides, poor quality feeds for animals and antibiotics make their way into these “healthy” food sources; they also negatively impact the body’s ability to metabolize these foods.

Losing Weight and Eating Well

People on smart weight loss regimens typically combine dietary changes and exercise in their strategy to lose weight. The quality as well as the types of foods consumed affect the body’s ability to shed pounds and recover from exercise while remaining healthy. It mostly comes down to portion control.  please look at the pictures I have made for kids. If the food is of poor quality, due to the conditions of its cultivation, weight loss and health may be negatively impacted.

Feeling Satisfied

Not only do conventionally farmed foods pollute the bodies of people who consume them, they also interfere with weight loss.

Conventionally farmed fruits, vegetables and grains are often cultivated in depleted soils and animals given man-made feeds of sub-par nutritional value. In short, they do not offer the body the nutrients needed to feel satisfied which leads to eating more food or other less healthy foods to reach satisfaction.

Pesticides, in particular Organic-Chlorinates, are stored in fat cells. When fat cells are utilized for energy, the pesticides flow into the bloodstream.
A 2004 study published by the International Journal of Obesity found these pesticides slow the metabolism, interfering with weight loss and in some cases preventing it. They seem to interfere with the body’s ability to burn fat. They also block other cells’ ability to effectively use the energy released by burning fat cells.

Solutions

The Environmental Working Group, ewg.org , publishes two lists annually. The first list, “The Dirty Dozen,” shares fruits and vegetables with the highest pesticide levels; these should always be purchased as organics.

The second list, “The Clean 15,” tells which fruits and vegetables may be purchased as organically farmed or conventionally farmed because they have low pesticide levels.

The lists contain produce commonly available and grown in the United States. EWG develops its recommendations based on pesticide testing data collected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to EWG the following foods should be purchased as organics:
• bell and hot peppers
• carrots
• celery
• cucumbers
• green beans
• lettuce
• potatoes
• spinach
• apples
• cherries
• imported grapes
• nectarines
• peaches
• pears
• raspberries
• strawberries

Notice that many of the items listed are thin skinned or rest in the soil as they grow which increases their pesticide exposure.

The level of pesticides in the following items are low enough to make it acceptable to purchase their conventionally grown versions:
• avocados
• broccoli
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• eggplant
• onions
• okra
• peas
• mushrooms
• radishes
• sweet corn
• tomatoes
• bananas
• blueberries
• cantaloupe
• grapefruit
• U.S.-grown grapes
• honeydew
• kiwi
• papaya
• pineapples
• plums
• lemons
• limes
• mangoes
• oranges
• tangerines
• watermelon

Along with choosing organic, there are other ways to decrease pesticide exposure and improve your opportunity for weight loss success.

Thoroughly wash all fruits and vegetables with cold running water before consuming them. If you find yourself purchasing the conventional version of one of the dirty dozen, peel away the skin if possible. Learn how to sprout seeds and grains to purge them of intrinsic toxins.

Hope it helps, Starting a garden and canning and freezing is a great practice. Maybe look into Aquaponics as a family project learning husbandry of fish and cultivating your veggies and spices for your home.

All the best

Chef Murph