As you may have noticed we utilize organic ingredients and this is why! Certified Organic (especially when rated as USDA organic) means no Genetically Modified Organisms (GM O's) have been placed into the food products and though many people argue the benefits by saying it's just a ploy for the food corporation to make money I would argue that the food corporation is only about making money to begin with.
Food companies (through their countless studies) know many of the artificial ingredients in their food only serve to cause greater hunger and the feeling of dissatisfaction unless you eat more. One of these being high fructose corn syrup, a man- made sweetener (which barely existed 30 years ago) is cheaper and sweeter than sugar. Less production cost meaning more money in the companies; enhancing their profits and a few of those companies make things like Ketchup, Soda, Pasta sauce and packaged cookies. Seems like a good business idea for making money but it's bad business for you the consumer; especially when it comes to your body. When nutritionist's do a word association process with HFCS the synonym which comes up is "Obesity"! This is a processed sweetener which came to be in the 1970's.
The main problem is this; HFCS is packed with calories yet the body doesn't recognize the calories. This artificial sweetener placed in so many foods actually works against your system by shutting off the body's natural appetite control switches, allowing you to feel the need to eat and eat far beyond what your body would normally be able to handle.
This sweetener is made of Fructose and Corn Syrup! Fructose occurs naturally in fruit and honey. Corn syrup is primarily made of glucose (sugar) which can be burned as a source of immediate energy, stored in you liver or muscles for later use or as a last resort, turned to fat. However it's not as sweet as other sugars, which is the reason HFCS hit the market running. It's cheap and at least twice as sweet!
Your body doesn't use the fructose immediately as it does the glucose, rather it metabolizes (breaks down) the fructose into fat. Although eating a piece of fruit or some honey will not cause you to get fat, eating HFCS is like taking a straight shot into the gut. Among the worst culprits is soda's (diet or regular) and due to other ingredients diet is actually worse. When you body doesn't recognize the artificial ingredients it goes into action in order to protect your vital internal organs from a foreign object (which is what it's supposed to do) and en-turn stores the stuff in your fat cells which has protector of the organs one of there many jobs. Over time this process causes greater stretching of the cells in the abdominal region and what's known as visceral fat (intra-abdominal fat) referring to the fat which surrounds the internal organs, starts to multiply.
As the visceral fat grows continuing to surround the organs, eventually the organs will start to shut down as they are pressed against the interior walls having no space to function properly. Visceral fat has been linked to greater risks of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and hypertension. People who are smokers, drinkers and sedentary (non- active) have been shown to be even more susceptible to visceral fat than those who are active and do not smoke or drink. Stress may also play a part in this organ killing disease causing fat in our bodies.
Organic companies desire to make the practice of producing food a safer environment for the workers (producing without harmful pesticides) as well as for the environment which should natter to all of us to. Along with this Organic food is closer to it's natural state which means more of the healthful nutrients are still in the foods when we get them and we are not filling our bodies with all the fake stuff our bodies can't recognize. The idea is this, Organic fruits, vegetables, and other products have as the baseline good nutrition in mind meaning better nutrients, ingredients and less processing than conventional foods or chemically laced fruits and vegetables coming from places that pick it green spray it with a ripening agent and put it on a truck for us to buy in standard grocery stores world-wide.
This is a topic we need to be better educated on and though we hope the U.S. government is not intentionally placing people in harms way with the foods being produced; we know they are allowing the stuff to continue being processed. It is our individual responsibilities to do everything possible to protect our health and the health of our loved ones.
In our experience though it cost a little more at the store (depending upon availability of stores), we waste less food (organic foods keep longer) and we feel better in our bodies. As a family we have chosen to go fully organic, but this has been a process over time not overnight. When we share with others who are desiring to start using Organic products but feel unable to go fully Organic this is our advice! Go Organic as much as possible in your ; meats (beef, chicken etc) are organic or at least free range, grass fed without the administering of harmful antibiotics, steroids, and animal by-product feeds. The toxins in the treated meat stores in the animal fat and is then ingested by use; grains (flour, corn mill, etc) if non-organic make sure it states non-GMO ingredients which means nothing has hopefully been added to grain and corn seeds prior to planting; fruits and vegetables are also very important to go organic due to spray, water and the ground itself.
The main thing is education for you and those you prepare nutritious meals for. It is our passion to see people live healthy, whole and fulfilled lives while becoming what they were created to be. Though it's not all about food and exercise to get to this place we are responsible to maintain these bodies in the best way we can.
Have fun, be creative and continue to learn.
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