Wednesday, April 25, 2007

nutrition 101 - organic foods

From the nutrition 101 lunch talk on 4/12/2007 at my office:

Food, whether liquid or solid, is the source of all nutrients required by the body to perform it’s many biochemical processes, and, without these required nutrients, the chemical processes are unable to come to fruition. Since nutritional deficiencies are normally not life-threatening at first and take time to manifest themselves, most people tend to ignore subtle warning signs. As a result, existing deficiencies may eventually manifest themselves in varying degrees of illness through a pattern of symptoms, depending on the state of the persons health…

…However, body processes may become so unbalanced that the standard potency of food is insufficient, or the food available lacks the required nutrients and minerals. As a result of today’s use of poor food and food manufacturing choices the use of whole-food concentrates over an adequate amount of time is often necessary to correct the resulting deficiencies, promote healing, and return the body to a state of homeostasis.

Two present day examples of commercially-produced foods that lack the nutrients found in their organic counterparts include the tomato and spinach. One study revealed that commercially-produced tomatoes contain 1 mg of iron and 0-5 mg of vitamin C, while organically-grown tomatoes have 1,938 mg of iron and 125-250 mg of vitamin C. Commercially produced spinach contains 49 mg of iron: its organic equivalent contains 1,584 mg.

We are often asked by those who want to begin buying organic foods where is a good starting point. Since pesticides are fat soluble which means they are stored in fat and fatty foods, an excellent beginning to health with organic foods is in the choices of foods that are primarily fat. (Pesticides are being shown as a primary source of chemical obesity because of their horrible effect on normal fat metabolism).

Dairy products are a good start. Organic butter is an excellent and important fat choice. Good for spreading on breads and using at low temperatures for cooking. Olive oil is another fat to use in the home. Very good for low to low-medium temperatures as well as dipping. We use coconut oil for cooking at medium to medium high temps. It is an excellent oil for health and will support digestion and heart health well. We also include in our daily diet a cod liver oil supplement (Carlson’s or Nordic Naturals), as directed on the bottle. With this daily intake of fats, you have all the essential and non-essential fats in your diet as you need. (An allergy to shell fish may mean you cannot take Cod liver oil. There are other foods that can provide these essential fatty acids if this is the case).

Nuts and nut butters are also an important place to make a switch to organic, again because of the high fat content.

The body is a self-healing mechanism. It is capable of healing, repairing, and reconstructing itself when provided with adequate amounts of good water, air and proper food.

http://nwhic.com/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I believe that Stacy and her team are awesome. Finding a natural way to heal ourselves is wonderful. Continue to learn as much as possible about organics and holistic approaches.