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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.

A message from E3Live

"My Everyday, Must-Have Green Organic Aquabotanical"

The best testimonial that I can give is that I drink this every single day, as it impacts my mood in an incredibly positive way.

E3Live + BrainON is certified organic, fresh-frozen AFA (Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) with a concentrated, aqueous, organic extract of Phenylethylamine and Phycocyanin.

Learn more.

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Living Maxwell

Must-Read

MUST-READ: A New Class of GMOs that Doesn’t Need Government Approval

Just when you thought that GMOs, as we know them today, were bad enough, get ready for something potentially worse to deal with.

In a recent New York Times article, it was reported that biotech companies have discovered and exploited a loophole in government regulation that allows them to create a different breed of GMOs and market them to the public without needing approval from the USDA.

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A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

Living Maxwell

Must-Read

The Health Risks of Eating Conventional Potatoes

Whenever I think about a lot of the food that I ate growing up, it isn’t overly pleasant. It was the standard American diet with all of the processed, fast food that most of the country still consumes today.

Fortunately, my childhood took place before the emergence of GMOs (mid-90s) and growth hormone milk (late 80s), so I escaped some of the really bad things when my body was in its crucial stage of development.

One food that I fondly remember eating, and loving, at family dinners was potatoes. And it wasn’t just the insides of the potatoes. I particularly loved eating the skins. Yet, little did I or my parents know just how toxic they were.

When many people think of the most important foods to be eating organic, potatoes do not immediately come to mind as quickly as apples, grapes, or spinach do. But they should and here’s why.

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Living Maxwell

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All Organic Eggs are NOT the Same – Here’s How to Buy the Best

If you walk into the supermarket and are confused about which organic eggs to buy, it is important to understand a few things.

First, not all organic eggs are the same. In fact, there are massive differences in organic eggs, particularly in regards to how the birds were raised.

Second, don’t select a carton of organic eggs simply because it has the nicest, most attractive packaging. That doesn’t tell the whole story.

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink