Healthy Living: Eating organic foods for a healthy you

I am in Mombasa and my host and I have gone for shopping. We enter supermarkets for all the items we need, and one thing that I noticed about my friend is that she was asking so many questions whether the foods we were buying were organic or not. In fact it took us over six hours to do the shopping because she was reading every little detail on everything she was buying. “What is this obsession with organic foods,” I ask her. “I don’t want to erode my body with chemicals which in return might cause me health problems,” she responds. Nowadays people eat anything and everything they see on supermarket shelves without the knowledge of what it is made of. “I wish to be as cautious as you are when shopping,” I tell her. Even though am also very careful with what I buy for my family to consume, I had not as much as put my mind to organic foods. For starters I always tell my friends that we have a big advantage due to our small country because whatever we eat comes directly from the farms in the morning, and even the meat that we eat is always fresh. The milk that we drink comes from our very own cows, the cheese is also made locally, and the yoghurt that my son loves is also made locally. That means a lot of our foods are most likely to be organic with less chemicals in them – and that is why most Rwandans have glowing skins. Well, first of all we need to really know exactly what organic foods are. According to some sources on the internet, Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers. They also do not contain genetically modified organisms and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. In fact this explains as to why my friend grows all her vegetables in her small compound using no chemical fertilizers. A long time ago our fore fathers used natural methods to keep away pests and to ensure that they reaped enough from their farms. Now what really changed? In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand producers have had to resort to using a lethal cocktail of pesticides to control disease and insect attack. Did you know that if you consumed an average apple you would be eating over 30 pesticides, even after you have washed it? Yes, now you need to know as to why next time you go shopping- you are advised to buy organic foods. Perhaps one of the prime advantages of organic food is that it is pure food, nothing more, nothing less, making them more nutritious, richer in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids than non-organic. Organic food is known to contain 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. Some disease like cancer, obesity, Alzheimer’s and even some birth defects can be caused by eating over processed foods. Organic foods or products can also be very expensive, so instead of switching everything organic yet your pockets cannot allow, maybe a few organic products can do the trick. Once youve started making the change, youll soon appreciate the many advantages of eating organic foods, and you wont want to switch back. Thank goodness our small but efficient country provides lots of organic foods. Next time you go shopping check out the labels and choose what is best for you and your family. Ends

Lifestyle

Healthy Living: Eating organic foods for a healthy you