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Organic Insider

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Another Reason to Eat Organic — Decrease Pesticide Exposure by Up to 95%

If you read in the media or someone tries to convince you that organic doesn’t matter, do not believe them.

It does.

And it could potentially save your life.

In a just-released, peer-reviewed study, four families across the country were fed both an organic and non-organic diet, and the ones who ate all organic saw their pesticide load drop by as much as 95%!

THE STUDY

Led by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, four families from cities around the U.S. — Atlanta, Baltimore, Oakland and Minneapolis — were fed both an organic and non-organic diet, each for six days.

What the results showed were that an organic diet rapidly and dramatically reduced exposure to pesticides in just one week. Levels of all detected chemicals dropped an average of 60.5% with a range of 37% to 95%, depending on the compound.

There were several differences between this study and similar studies that were done before:

1) Greater rigor in the administration of the organic diet versus the ones in other studies. Research assistants shopped for the families, and certified chefs prepared dinners during the organic phase to guarantee 100% organic — down to the oils, spices, beverages, etc.

Prior studies only substituted some categories of food such as fruits, breads, cereals, vegetables, dairy, eggs, juices, and snack foods.

2) This was also the first organic diet intervention study to monitor the impact of an organic diet among both children and adults. Given their different metabolisms and dietary patterns, this provides a useful comparison.

3) This study addressed an important data gap around exposure to neonicotinoids and the potential of an organic diet to reduce these exposures.

What are neonicotinoids? They are now the most widely used insecticides in the world and are among the most commonly detected pesticide residues in baby foods. Neonicotinoids are also associated with endocrine disruption and changes in behavior and attention, including an association with autism.

Additionally, most people probably recognize neonicotinoids as the main reason for Colony Collapse Disorder.

WHAT TO DO

What this study clearly indicates is that eating organic does matter, and people can incorporate the results of this study into their lives in two different ways.

First, you should feed your family as much organic as possible. Be sure to read my post Should you ALWAYS Eat Organic? which talks about the priorities of eating organic.

Two, we very much need your support on the policy level in Washington, D.C., and our elected officials must hear from us.

As someone who has written about the organic food industry for more than a decade, I am sad to report that our federal government is still pushing a GMO, industrial food agenda while trying to marginalize organic as much as it can.

In fact, there are some politicians who want to wipe organic completely off of the map and are trying to water down organic rules as quickly as possible. (This is one of the key topics that I write about in Organic Insider.)

Please call your members of Congress and ask them to support organic agriculture. You can also sign Friends of the Earth’s e-petition HERE.

The truth is that the harmful pesticides that they spray on much of the food supply are poisonous and have absolutely no business being on our dinner plates or in our bodies.

When it comes to protecting your health, organic is the only choice.

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Organic Insider

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President’s Cancer Panel Report is a Huge Endorsement for Organic Food

A few days ago, the President’s Cancer Panel, a group of independent doctors and researchers, released its annual report called “Reducing our Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now”. Needless to say, the connection between the amount of chemicals/harmful toxins in our environment and the high incidence of cancer is incredibly strong, and decisive action needs to be taken.

In its letter to the President, the Panel “urges you most strongly to use the power of your office to remove the carcinogens and other toxins from our food, water and air that needlessly increase health care costs, cripple our Nation’s productivity, and devastate lives.”

The report recommends that in order to decrease exposure to pesticides, individuals should choose “food grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers” and “exposure to antibiotics, growth hormones and toxic run-off from livestock feed lots can be minimized by eating free-range meat without these medications.”

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Organic Insider

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Tell the USDA to Reject Genetically-Engineered Eucalyptus Trees

It is bad enough that we have to deal with genetically-engineered foods, but now we are facing the prospect of something potentially even more scary: genetically-engineered trees.

Tree biotech company ArborGen is requesting an unprecedented USDA approval for its genetically-engineered (GE), “freeze tolerant” eucalyptus. If the USDA grants this approval, it will be the first-ever GE-forest tree to be commercially grown in the U.S., allowing ArborGen to plant massive, unregulated GE-tree farms.

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Living Maxwell

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Beet Kvass – What is it and Why am I Drinking it?

Organic beet kvass isn’t exactly a household name, similar to a coconut water or even kombucha.

And I don’t believe that it will ever come close to having the same name recognition as these other two drinks.

Yet, its health benefits and utility may surpass them both.

A lacto-fermented beverage of Russian origin, beet kvass provides the body with beneficial bacteria and aids in digestion.

It is also touted as a blood purifier and an excellent way to cleanse the liver.

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