Tag Archive for: food

The benefits of organic foods

Modern grocery stores are unlike the ones many of today’s adults encountered when they were children. Grocery stores are not only bigger today than they were years ago, but they’re also stocked with items that weren’t available until relatively recently.

One stroll through the produce section reveals just how different modern grocery stores are from those of yesteryear. Organic fruits and vegetables now take up ample real estate in grocery store produce sections. Many shoppers may wonder if they’re better off choosing organic versus traditional products, and research suggests they are.

  • Organic foods contain less pesticides and toxic materials. A 2014 meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that organically grown crops were less likely than conventionally grown crops to contain detectable levels of pesticides. The analysis also found that organically grown crops were 48 percent less likely to contain cadmium than conventionally grown crops. Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that can accumulate in the liver and kidneys, which the Global Healing Center says can affect blood pressure, induce bone damage and affect renal and dopamingeric systems in children.
  • Organic crops contain more antioxidants than conventional crops. The same analysis also found that organic crops had significantly higher levels of antioxidants, which promote strong immune systems, than conventionally grown crops. Organic crops were found to contain 69 percent higher levels of flavanones and 51 percent higher levels of anthocyanins than their conventional counterparts. The extra antioxidants in organic foods is nothing to scoff at, as the National Cancer Institute notes that antioxidants neutralize free radicals, excess levels of which can potentially lead to the formation of various types of cancer and other diseases.
  • Organic products cannot contain synthetic hormones. Conventionally raised animals are sometimes injected with synthetic growth hormones so they will gain weight more quickly and produce more milk. Residue from those substances, which cannot be used in the production of organic meat and dairy products, is believed to contribute to widespread antibiotic resistance, according to the Biodesign Center for Environmental Security at Arizona State University. In addition, some studies have suggested a strong connection between the hormones given to cattle and cancer in humans.
  • Organic dairy products can promote cardiovascular health. A 2013 study from researchers affiliated with the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources found that organic milk contained 25 percent less omega-6 fatty acids and 62 percent more omega-3 fatty acids than conventional milk. The Organic Center notes that’s a considerable benefit, as higher amounts of omega-3 and lower amounts of omega-6 fatty acids helps promote cardiovascular health and support the immune system.When choosing organic products at the grocery store, consumers may be benefitting their overall health in various ways.
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The relationship between the Mediterranean diet and mental wellness

Nutritious diets have long been touted as essential components of healthy lifestyles. Many people have a tendency to view diet as something that’s purely physical, associating the foods they eat with how they look and how much energy they have. While accurate, it doesn’t paint the full picture of just how big and positive an impact healthy diets can have on overall health.

In regard to healthy diets, it’s hard to dispute the effectiveness of the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet focuses on plant-based foods and, as a result, includes lots of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. The diet is so healthy that the World Health Organization even recognizes it as a healthy, sustainable dietary pattern. Long touted for its ability to promote heart health and reduce risk for heart disease, which the WHO notes is the number one cause of death across the globe, the Mediterranean diet has also been found to protect against cancer and type 2 diabetes.

Each of those benefits makes the Mediterranean diet worthy of consideration at the very least, but the benefits of this approach to eating don’t stop there. In fact, people unfamiliar with the Mediterranean diet, or even those who subscribe to it, may not realize that the diet can have a positive effect on mental wellness.

A 2015 study published in the scientific journal Ageing Research Reviews found that strong adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk for cognitive impairment. Another study from researchers in Spain found that older adults who supplemented their Mediterranean diets with extra olive oil or nuts had superior cognitive function, including better memory and thinking skills, than those who ate low-fat diets. Reasoning, attention and language were better among the former group as well.

In addition to improving cognitive function, the Mediterranean diet also may improve mental wellness by reducing adherents’ risk of developing depression. A 2013 study published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging found that people who followed the Mediterranean diet most closely were nearly 99 percent less likely to develop depression that those who followed the diet the least closely.

While diet is often thought of in physical terms, the Mediterranean diet can benefit mental wellness while also helping people maintain healthy weights.