Organic food: eggs, milk, fruits and vegetables, what to choose first?
Organic food is known for its many benefits. It promotes sustainable agriculture and helps to take care of one’s health by favouring products that contain fewer pesticides, fertilisers and other agricultural chemicals.
But eating organic comes at a cost and may not be accessible to everyone. It is not necessary to consume only products from organic farming, but it is advisable to consume some that are characterised as more harmful to the body. Organic food items are usually considered to be high in nutrients, vitamins and minerals. However, they have been associated with many health problems, particularly when consumed excessively. The idea of organic food like turmeric root was to create healthy foods that are free from chemicals and synthetic substances, as well as other harmful substances like pesticides and fertilisers.
Here is our selection of foods that are better to eat organic!
Organic eggs: the solution to avoid salmonella
The first risk with eggs that are not from organic farming is contamination by salmonella , a bacterium present in animal waste that can cause food poisoning, salmonellosis. Hens raised outdoors are less likely to carry the bacteria than their counterparts raised in cages under often deplorable sanitary conditions. Luckily, eggs are one of the foods that the French prefer to buy organic.
To find your way around easily, eggs sold on the market have an encrypted code printed on the shell.
For your information, the code for ORGANIC eggs begins with 0, that for eggs from free-range hens begins with 1, that of eggs from hens raised on the floor begins with 2, that of eggs from hens raised in cages begins with 3. It is better for your health and for the well-being of the animals to give priority to eggs from free-range or organic hens.
Organic milk: why is it recommended?
Non-organic milk-producing animals (cows, goats, sheep, etc.) are fed with non-organic fodder and cereals and therefore often contain pesticide residues.
And since some of these animals are regularly treated with antibiotics in order to prevent them from disease as much as possible, residues are found in milk, and by extension, in dairy products.https://organixlover.com
Thus, dairy products contain on average 5.5 times more pesticide residues than plants. In addition, hormone residues are inevitably found in milk and dairy products. A good reason to change your habits and go organic.
Organic fruits: which ones to choose first to avoid pesticides?
Apples
Non-organic apples undergo an average of 36 chemical treatments! And as the skin concentrates many benefits, it is a shame to remove it. It is recognized that it helps in particular to prevent the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The strawberries
Strawberries are also infected with pesticides: 70% of non-organic strawberry punnets contain endocrine disrupting pesticides, that is to say molecules that disrupt the functioning of the body and can cause cancer.
Peaches
Peaches very often contain captan and iprodione, two pollutants that have also been linked to cancer. 73% of peaches exceed the pesticide limits authorised by European standards.
The grape
The grape is a fruit very sensitive to attacks by insects and fungi, and it therefore contains a lot of pesticides and fungicides. However, it is a fruit that does not peel: it is therefore particularly important to choose it organic. And these chemicals can also end up in wine.
Organic vegetables: which vegetables to choose to avoid pesticides?
The salad
The salad contains a maddening level of pesticides. Two-thirds of salads contain endocrine disruptors. 16% of them even contain chemical substances banned in France.
Potatoes
Potatoes still contain 81% pesticides even when washed and peeled. Contrary to popular belief that, since it is buried in the ground, the potato is safe from pesticides, this food is one of the most affected by pesticides. Indeed, in conventional agriculture, it is treated with fungicides, herbicides and chemical treatments that prevent it from germinating after harvest.
The pepper
The pepper was classified among the vegetables most exposed to pesticides during its growth. The characteristic folds of these foods provide nooks where chemical residues are likely to accumulate. However, it is a vegetable that is generally eaten with the skin.
The celery
is also a vegetable heavily sprayed with chemicals. As it grows in the fall, it is subject to a windy and rainy climate which favours the development of bacteria and fungi. This is why conventional agriculture makes massive use of antibacterials and fungicides, the residues of which may well end up on your plate.
Cucumbers and spinach
Cucumbers and spinach also have a particularly high level of pesticides.
Beef and chicken: promote meat from organic farming
In the same way as for milk, we find in meat in general and beef in particular residues of pesticides (14 times more than in plants due to the phenomenon of biodiversity) and antibiotics.
Indeed, for cows to resist disease and grow quickly, standard farms administer doses of antibiotics and hormones, which are harmful to our health (again endocrine disruptors).
Organic beef, although much more expensive, is much healthier because the animals are fed with more attention and care.
Same problem for chicken as for beef: chickens from conventional breeding receive antibiotics and hormones, which then end up in its flesh. This also has the effect of increasing our resistance to antibiotics.