Organic vs Non Organic

Organic has been a hot buzz topic for a while. Many people are under the assumption that organic automatically means healthier...but is this true?
 
In this episode we explain what qualifies something as "certified organic". We also help to give you some helpful insight on when to prioritize organic, and when it probably isn't necessary (depending on your reasoning for choosing organic in the first place).
 
As always, it is our goal to bring you the facts so that you can make more confident and informed nutrition choices that work best for you!

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/nucrewnutrition/ or https://www.instagram.com/themomminnutritionist/ and send us a DM!

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Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

0:22

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey. And this is Brianna. This week I am drinking a poppy doing the ginger lime. It's not my favorite ginger drink I've had. I think I like the Ollie Pop version better, but we've already discussed I can't have Ollie Pop right now. So I'm trying this one. We've already discussed. I'm trying Coach Kara our metabolism makeover, like functional coach. I did a HTMA. Finally, I got my results back and I would have never believed it if you didn't tell me, but I'm super low in potassium, which is strange because I eat so much like potatoes and avocados. But anyways, she recommended this electrolytes powder plus it's from Amazon and it has like a thousand milligrams of potassium in it. So it's basically like the opposite of elements. I've been doing this for a couple of days and I actually feel really good. So, and it tastes delicious. I have the mango, there's like 10 flavors. I did the mango passion fruit. It's really good. Nice. Yeah, that's where those HTMAs are super helpful. I did one, I think I did mine like two years ago, and basically it told me that I'm stressed out. It's like, yeah. Oh yeah. I will tell you, I did the HTMA and I got an ORRA ring at like the same time, and now there's no going back on how stressed I am. Like, I can't hide it anymore. Like, thank you for the call out hair. Yeah. Which I knew I was, but now I was like, Oh, I need to be like, very intentional. And this is a good point to bring out. Like this is where testing can be super helpful where, if you feel like something is off, then look deeper. And actually, for me, I had some extra lab work just recently done because Just have not been feeling good and everyone's like it's just pregnancy blah blah blah I'm like this is not like I feel like just something is really off like something is not right So I had my doctor run extra labs turns out my vitamin D was like I think it was 123 And if you don't know anything about vitamin D, then just for the listeners, that is pretty high. Yeah. I was going to say that's high. I thought you were going to say I'm low, but no, you're right. Yeah. It is extremely high, which is also very weird because it's always been extremely low all my life. Like I've always had to supplement. And so number one, trying to figure out why the heck is it so high? Because I literally just had labs done in November and it was low. So trying to figure that out, but point being. If you feel like something's wrong, advocate for yourself, get some testing done if you need it, because it literally explained. And I felt like I was not crazy anymore because high vitamin D makes you nauseous, muscle weakness, fatigue. You're extremely thirsty, which is also things that are contributed to pregnancies. Yeah, no, that's good. Yeah. I'm. Because now you have like a targeted reason and you know what to do about it. And that's how I feel about the HDMA too. It's like, well, now I know what I need to supplement with. And so they're just like, throwing everything at it. If I was feeling like terrible like that and I knew I had habitually low vitamin D, I probably would have been like, I need more vitamin D. I thought it was going to be low. Especially with pregnancy. A lot of things get depleted because it's like, Like going towards another human. Yeah. Interesting. You know, for some reason it's just extremely high, but there was wrong outside and like full on. I'm actually in the nude every day from 10 to two. So the sun, right? Like that sounds nice. So yeah, get your labs done. Okay. When it is time, when it is needed, and it can be super helpful. We could probably honestly drop an HTMA link and the show notes. That's a good idea. So if anyone's interested, it's through Metallism Makeover. Yeah, basically you do your test and we've done an episode on it with Vanda. So you can go back to a previous episode and Vanda talks about the HTMA test and where it's helpful. But you can order, get this test order and they send you an interpretation of it. So it's very nice. But anyways, that's not even what we're talking about today. We're actually talking about organic foods. So With organic foods, I think, I mean, it kind of goes along with what we were just talking about because it's kind of taking nutrition a step further and seeing if we actually need it or not. yeah, this is a good one because I, we get this question all the time. Like, should I be eating only organic? Isn't it so much better for you? I think there's a lot of common misconceptions about what organic is and what it means. And so hopefully after this episode, you can kind of make it better. better choice of like, should I be doing organic for everything? Or is there certain things I should be doing organic? Or is that even a thing at all? Basically, well, organic foods are going to be grown without synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, or hormones. The idea of them is to promote sustainability, reduce pollution, soil usage and water usage. I mean, I feel like organic, it always seems like a elite term, like, like a classy produce isn't organic. Yeah. Like a bougie, a bougie, higher quality produce. No, it's true. And I think too, it's because it's more expensive. And so I think people think like, Oh, because it's more expensive, it's healthier for me. It must be better. Which labeling something as organic doesn't just make it automatically likely. healthy. This is where it comes to those like front of the label things, because you can have a box of cookies that are labeled as organic. Doesn't mean you should eat them all day long. Yeah. Same with Keto labels or all natural labels or whatever label it is. I always encourage you dive a little deeper, flip the package over type of thing. Yeah. Or even like red 40 being super popular right now. If you're looking at a Pop Tart with no red 40 in it, but we have 15 grams of added sugar I wouldn't consider that a nutrient dense food. So just because something is labeled as organic does not Mean it is necessarily like a healthier And I'll be all type of thing. Organic food has been shown to be higher in antioxidants, but really it's not like a significant amount and the nutrients are going to depend on where was the food grown? What is the variety that was tested? And even like when it was harvested, because that's going to change the antioxidant content there. Yeah. And even like what time of year it was grown. Right. So it's just, I think people miss the part where it's like not significant. Like, yes, it's shows it can have higher antioxidants or maybe a little bit higher micronutrients, but that difference isn't significant. And so what that means is it may not be appropriate to spend a dollar 50 more per pound for certain things. Just, you know, like if you're in your mind, like, Oh, but it has more nutrients. Not significantly it's really not that different I think when it comes to organic it has more to do with like Environment like yes the environment more so like environmental benefits than Like the nutritional benefits because at the end of the day all your fruits and vegetables are going to have Antioxidants. Yeah, and There has been a study done like out of France that had concluded organic food consumption is linked to lower risk of cancer Which is great like lower risk of cancer, but people who Also choose to do organic foods also tend to naturally eat more fruits and vegetables overall are more active, have different social determinants, like socioeconomic states, educational status, access to even those foods versus if you eat conventionally grown foods. So that's also predictors of health there. So all fruits and vegetables are going to have. Okay. antioxidants in it. Like Brianna said, it's more kind of environmental impact than I would say nutritional impacts. And I think that's a good point too. Like, yes, maybe people that eat, you know, organic are less likely to get cancer, but I think we're missing out on the fact of like, they're probably just eating more fruits and vegetables. And then, like you said, like different socioeconomic status because they can afford these. more expensive foods, they probably have more access to health care. So they have access to preventative care and screening. Like a lot goes into it. So don't think like, Oh, It's if I eat organic, less likely to get cancer. I would just say, yeah, if you eat fruits and vegetables, we know that lowers your risk for cancer. It lowers your risk for a lot of different diseases. There is also kind of getting like the full story of it. That's a perfect example. Kind of, I actually made a reel the other day because I get the comment a lot of like, I see someone eating a cheeseburger and they're so skinny, that's what I want. I'm like, you have no idea what's going on in their life. So we got to stop those kinds of thoughts right now. Same thing with these types of studies. If we don't know the full story, then is it even super accurate? Or like all of these documentaries that are coming out, I don't even watch them because I can't, I just can't, I can't, cause it's going to make me mad or it's going to make me be like, dang it, like this is like so misconstrued, but yes, it is going to, it is going to stress me out. A lot of the argument with organic that I see online and stuff is people being like, well, there's less pesticides, which yes, it doesn't mean that there's less pesticides. They still use pesticides. They're just not synthetic or they are organic friendly, which just means they meet certain qualifiers. Cause if you've ever farmed or garden, you will know you have to do something or you're not going to have like fruits and vegetables, right? Like other things are competing with it. So I would say, if you're like, what should I do? There's a couple of things you should do. If you should be like, should I buy organic? Should I not? My whole stance is if you are not eating the outside of the fruit, you can probably get away with not organic. If pesticides and stuff is something you're worried about, right? Like an apple, for example, you're going to eat the skin of that fruit. Okay. If you're worried about pesticides, maybe that's something that you should splurge and get organic with. If you are eating a banana, you're not eating the banana peel, it's probably okay. Like that's just my easy should I or should I not. There's also a list online of the dirty dozen, I'm sure everyone's heard of it. It's a list of fruits and vegetables that are identified to have the highest pesticides. On them. Right. And it's updated annually. Or you can also wash your fruits and vegetables. That helps too. And I know that sounds silly and I don't mean to be like snarky, but you can wash them. There's different ways to get and you should be washing them anyway. I'm gonna, I'm gonna admit, sometimes I don't wash mine it. Immune system. Woohoo. Thank you. But it comes from the ground. There's all kinds of stuff that could be on it. You should just wash'em anyway. And so like a lot of times I, like, I'll just wash them with water if I'm in a quick rush, because I am a weirdo. Like it freaks me out to eat non wash and I have an apple off the tree, like whatever. I'm like, what if there's a worm in there? He's like, I mean, I guess I'll see it. Yeah. But yeah, like, I mean, you can wash it off with the water. but You could also do like a vinegar and water mix. Or I actually use like a Norwex produce wash. We can link that in the show notes too. But those are just how I wash it. Honestly, I don't really buy organic fruits or vegetables. The organic label is not something that I really prioritize because It is so much more expensive at my grocery store. So I just don't do it. I mean, it's not a bad thing if you do buy organic, but that's where it comes down to deciding what is going to work best for you. For me, it's more important to get a variety of fruits and vegetables and, and being able to work with my budget. Because even CDC, they have found that one in 10 Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables to in general. So then if we have this pressure that it has to be organic and now we're going broke trying to get all these organic veggies and now we can't get enough in because we have to do the organic because it's expensive. Yeah. Well then it's not going to be helpful anyways. No, it's not. And I think that's the bigger picture that I want people to see, right? Like we're always talking about people wanting to do like the really cool, sexy, shiny thing. And it's like the end of the day. Let's just focus on eating more fruits and vegetables first. Like, yeah, your grocery bill is going to be much higher. If you're like, I need to go to the store and buy only organic. There's obviously going to be weeks. You can't do that. You're probably not going to splurge on the organic Brussels sprouts. You're just not going to eat Brussels sprouts and another thing about organic too, is one of the reasons it's more expensive is because the labeling To be certified organic is expensive. It's very expensive. And I grew up like in an agriculture area and there was, you know, farmers markets and a lot of people wouldn't buy from the smaller farms because it wasn't organic. And it's like, that doesn't mean that their produce is any less. Like it's, they're actually doing organic farming. Like they're doing things that the other organic farmers do. They just, they can't afford the organic. Labeling so they don't do it, you know, and it's like, I don't think people understand that to like, just because something's not organic doesn't mean they're not doing organic practices with farming and that sort of thing. Yeah, so it's expensive. And then the process to become certified organic is also, it can be kind of a long process unless you expedite it. Well, then that's going to cost you more money. So, yeah. Overall, I mean, even thinking about like the local farmers, I do try and buy local, especially like farmer's market season is coming up next week, my birthday weekend. So that's what I'm doing for my birthday. Yeah, like buying local produce is definitely beneficial and it does support your local farmers and your environment. And that's another thing that drives me crazy about some of these documentaries. They're just like, farmers are so cruel to their animals, blah, blah, blah. Like, again, I'm not saying that I know anything about these commercial farming practices. It could quite definitely look different, but I also come from a family. With farmers and it's not what they are showing in these documentaries. I will tell you that your local farmers truly care about their land and their environment. I mean, that's their livelihood. So it's a lot of work. I know a dairy farmer. I actually haven't talked to her in a long time. Her and her husband are dairy farmers and I'm, I know how much work. They put into it. And I'm always like, wow, I wonder how stressed out they are about all the documentaries that come out about milk and stuff like that. Right. Like, I think the conversation sounds good. Right. When you're watching these documentaries and they're like, you're like, Oh, this, this, and that, and, Oh, that's horrible. And, Oh, that's this. I think we are just really far removed from how we grow and harvest our food that we don't even have a good, we don't have enough information to even make an opinion in, in my opinion. Okay. Most people, they have no idea how it even works. And for these documentaries, you also have to remember, they're, really their main purpose is to entertain. They're not gonna entertain you by the boring things. They're gonna make it look really bad. They're really gonna entice your emotions. And honestly, I guess with these, more of them are construed to demonize the audience. or cattle farming, that type of thing. Again, I don't think that's necessarily true for all areas. And you have to remember like, who is funding these documentaries. it the full story? Are they just here to entertain me a little bit? And there's even some that I've watched. I started to question things. I'm like, yeah, I mean, that's not necessarily accurate, but they do, they have made me question and there's one that I just didn't even finish watching. I was like, this is just, it's too much, you know, I'm just like, yes. If we could all just grow and like, produce our own food, that would be amazing, but we're not. The majority of us are relying on DoorDash and grocery delivery. We do not have the time to grow our own food. Okay, but yes, and I would say, yeah, eating, you know, local is probably the best bet for literally everybody, but I know that's, that's not always an option either. There's a lot of people that don't live around farmer's markets, but. At the day, biggest takeaway from this is it's not so much the nutrients of the food or the quality of the food. It's more about the environment and not, that's not important. It is, but there's a lot of misconceptions when it comes to organic versus non organic. And the most important thing is. You should be eating more fruits and vegetables. Do what works for you. I think that is our main takeaway. We're not telling you to not buy organic. We're not telling you to have, you have to buy organic. Do what works for you. And I'm not saying like, I'm against organic. Like I'm at the grocery. Oh, that's organic. I'm not buying it. Yeah, there are certain ways that it was organic. So I buy a lot of organic just because, oh, Costco is, they just. All their frozen fruit is organic. Yeah. And I will say some people do say the taste is a little different. So, I mean, that can sway your opinion, but at the end of the day, cost, availability, taste, your personal values, that's going to matter when you need to decide organic or not. Some other great resources food science, babe on Instagram. She shares a lot of great information, kind of debunking a lot of myths and breaking it down and gives you the science. So if you'd like to nerd out a little bit, yes, I love her. Not the food, babe. The food science babe. I think they have like a rival going on. I'm pretty sure. I think the food babe watched the food science babe, but probably because the food babe does a lot of like fear things and the food science babe is like, no, let me explain how this works. She does great stuff and she puts it in layman's terms and it kind of helps because let's be honest, like the normal everyday consumer that doesn't have a background in nutrition or farming or environmental, anything, they're not going to know much about any of these things. We just know headlines and what people are saying in grocery stores on Tik TOK, you know? And so I can understand why people are confused. Absolutely. And even like thinking about that, like just a quick word on GMOs too, because we're talking about organic things. So they come into play as well. Mm hmm. So the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Medical Association have stated that there is no evidence that GMOs are inherently harmful to your health. GMOs are just genetically modified organisms. So basically the genetic material is altered using genetic engineering techniques, which sounds scary, but it's not, it doesn't mean it's inherently bad for you. But it can help products. So for like pest resistance, to be able to kind of be more resilient against environmental stress, like a drought to improve the nutritional profile or even like a shelf life. And yes, it does alter growth rate, size, flavor, color, but there are benefits with better crop yields, reduce use of pesticides that enhance nutrition and improve tolerance. to the environmental conditions. So really, you honestly need to fear GMOs either. No, there's no research showing like those who eat GMOs are more susceptible to things, and also we, GMOs have been in our food system since the early nineties, I don't think people realize that it's been a while, it's just now That it's a lot to put on the label, but they've been around, like, this is not a new concept. This is, I saw something the other day that was like, have you noticed everything's GMO? And like, I was like, yeah, that's cause the labeling laws changed. That's the only reason like these products always had GMOs. And yeah, for, you know, I think of like corn specifically, I'm not a farmer, but I, Obviously had to sit through lots of classes about it. Corn, it's really easy to lose those crops and we use corn for a lot. Now that's another debate for another day. You know how much corn products we use in America, but it used to be very difficult to grow corn. And now with the GMO seeds. You know, they're much more resistant to all the things that used to kill corn super easily, right? Like if you've ever been to a pumpkin patch and like all the corn is nasty and dead, that's how corn usually is, right? So they needed to like figure out, oh gosh, we need this crop. How are we going to make it sustainable? How are we going to mass produce it? And again, debate for another day, but you know, we use corn for a lot of things. That's not all that. Exactly. Even like cotton. there, but you're not even eating totten. So it's like for your clothes, which I know everyone likes to go shopping. Okay. Like It's not horrible. I don't think the government's trying to kill us. I think the government is trying to do the best that it can. And yeah, sometimes the government is wrong. That's just how it is, but every science is always progressing. So it's hopefully going to be fine right now. It's deemed fine. And honestly, it's been here. It's not new. So if you're one of those people who are like, Oh my gosh, you're right. I'm in the store and now I see all this labeling. It's just because it's just because the laws changed. Yes. At the end of the day, do what works for you and we're all going to be fine. Eat your fruits and vegetables and we're going to poop nicely. Yep. And be, get lots of different micronutrients. Yay. Yes. All right, everyone. Thank you so much for listening this week and we will be back next week to dive into sleep. Oh yes. All right. Have a great week. Bye.