Going Organic

[Nimue]

I've been wanting to go organic for a while, but with my limited resources it hasn't been possible. I know that organic foods solve some of the problems we face with eating these days, such as additives, preservtives, and too much sodium. I'm wondering if anyone here has tried losing with organic foods, and what the results were. If not, I guess I get to be the guinea pig!

 

9/20/04 Sovereign of the Seas

Roll Call

 

 

 

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

[Guest]

Try it and let us know if you think it makes a difference. It should be better for you/us but why is it so expensive? Should be less since not using all the "stuff" on it..don't you think?

 

Enjoy!

[Nimue]

It's more expensive because it's harder to find producers (farmers, factories, etc.) that don't use the modern ways out for producing foods. Organic farmers CANNOT use chemicals to grow vegetables, animals have to be fed organic food and allowed to roam. Factories that process and package foods cannot use things like partially hydrogenated oils to make the oils easier to handle (hydrogenation makes the oils more solid, and more easy to transport), no additives or preservatives are allowed. Because of the way current American food production works, it is much more difficult (and expensive) to produce foods using these methods. Organic farmers and factories are in the gross minority, which drives the price even further upwards because you have a limited number of suppliers. Most of the food producers that do operate in an organic fashion aren't so worried about profits, but it does take a lot more capital to produce food that way.

 

9/20/04 Sovereign of the Seas

Roll Call

 

 

 

Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

[kalamari]

I recently switched to organic foods, mostly because I am trying to get pregnant next year and having my first baby at 40...so I figure anything can help! In terms of losing weight, yes,I noticed a difference, it seemed I became more "regular" (not to be gross!) but that also assisted with weightloss. Through research I learned that it is not unusual for the colon to have as much as 20 lbs of impacted waste so there's a definate thing to consider there. I feel a lot better as well. It can be more expensive, but if you learn to shop and cook carefully it can be worth it. We have a huge Wholefoods Market here which is an organic grocery store. You could check their website to see if they have a store near you. www.wholefoods.com is the web address I believe.When I evaluated my spending and see how much money I "waste" on stupid things (e.g, the cup of coffee at dunkin donuts everyday) I was very easily able to afford the slight increase in organic food. When I first brewed my own coffee at home with organic coffee beans, I couldn't believe the difference in the taste! It was pure coffee taste. I've read several stories of people who made the switch to organic, and they reported weight loss. I started slowly by just switching to organic meat, and slowly phased all my food in the house "out". So I hope this helps..another thing that works for me is that I walk or ride my bike everywhere as much as I can. Hey, when we were kids mom said "if you want to go somewhere ride your bike!". I live 1 mile away from a shopping center so I can do that. Another advantage to that was that I was even more careful with what I spent and bought, because I had to figure out how to lug it home! Hope this helps and good luck....Menina

[kalamari]

Just checking to see if you did switch to organic or not and what was the outcome? I came across the something called the Schwarbein principle which is a book about organic dieting. I think that's the correct spelling. Let us know what you did....Menina

[adoptmom]

I don't know if you can lose weight by going organic because they still make things like Newman-O's and organic brownies but I do believe that it's so much better for you. We try to eat and garden as much organically as possible because my little one has food allergies. I figure that the less junk we put into her the better we are. There are alot of chemicals and additives that are just plain bad for the body. To me it's worth the money but I dont' buy alot of pre-packaged stuff because of D's corn, egg and peanut allergies.

 

I'm going to try to freeze or can as much stuff from the farmer's market this year. There's an organic one about 20 miles from me plus we grow our own tomatoes, grapes, etc.

 

Tami

[Gathina]

I am not convinced anymore Organic is what it's cracked up to be. We eat some organic things, only because we grow some of our own stuff and my husband comes from a country where I would consider it "true" organic farming there so he implements a lot of what we do here. We have a friend who has an Eco hotel in Central America and we learned a LOT about the piracy and marketing schemes from her as far as the whole organic movement is concerned. A lot of it is hype and not regulated. Some things are better to buy organic than others. When we do eat meat, we do buy organic and it does make a difference in the quality and the taste. Organic coffee is worth it, but be careful on that too.

 

The whole organic "grown on sustainable, eco friendly farms" etc and the whole "Fair Market" trade stuff is sometimes a bunch of flap. I have toured some of those "Fair Market" organic production farms overseas and although those wage earners might earn more than a non fair market farm, it still isn't really "fair market" when you consider the people who own the places are still making zillions compared to the employees.

 

Best advice: if you want to lose weight, buy some things organic, eat more grains, and EAT AT HOME AND NOT IN A RESTAURANT. That way you can control your food, the quality of it, and try to grow some of your own. You can grow things in pots, etc even if you don't have land or a year round warm climate. Use coffee grounds, etc. for fertilizer.