How Does Eating Organic Food Effect Your Weight?

By Tom Qi

If you are looking to lose or maintain your weight, is eating organic going to help? I have eaten organic food for a long time. I am sure that eating organic does affect your weight, although lightly. However, what are some of the factors that may contribute to weight loss when eating organic. However, before that what are some of the things that make organic foods organic?

For organic food to be organic it, first, it must be grown without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides of any kind. Natural fertilizer is acceptable, things such as eggshells, fruit skins, and dead plants. If the food comes from livestock, the animal has to be free of antibiotics or growth hormones. Finally, organic food cannot be genetically modified or treated with radiation. Now let us move on to some ways eating organic foods can help you lose/ maintain weight.

1. Organic Food Isn't Processed

Today almost all the food we find in the grocery store has been processed, packaged, and striped of their nutritional value. Why? To make the food last longer, stay cheaper, and taste better. When your body is robbed of the nutrition it needs, it starts storing the energy you consume in the form of fat. Organic food, however, is more wholesome and full of nutrition. When you eat wholesome foods you feel for satisfied, allowing you to get the nutrition you need, without eating too much. It is a win-win situation!

2. Organic Food Does Not Have Food Additives

Food additives are substances to food to preserve the flavor and appearance. Things such as starch in chicken to make it crispier, fats in pastries to make them tastier are just some of the common examples. They also add salt, sugar, and thickeners. All these are definitely not good for your body in large amounts. Organic food does not contain any food additives, making it less sugary, fattening, and unhealthy.

3. Organic Food is Non-Toxic

Non-organic foods can contain toxins, which can affect your body's state of being, making you sick, sleepy, or mood. All these can have effects on your weight and that means weight gain. Sometimes these toxins may target your weight directly, especially with fried foods and foods full of preservatives and other substances.

4. Organic Food is Associated With an Active Lifestyle

People who eat organic are thought of as active and outgoing people. Other people choosing to switch to organic might step in their shoes as well and follow suit. While this is not a direct link, when people change their diet to organic, they might start exercising just because they are starting to eat healthy.

5. Organic Foods are Often Grown Locally

If foods are grown locally, chances are if you are like me, you will walk to get your fresh produce. When food is grown locally and it is just half a kilometer from your house, you might feel a little bit guilty driving that car. When you walk you burn calories and that is one step to weight loss

Whether or not organic food is going to be in the next wave of weight loss techniques is still yet to be answered. However, through my experiences I have to say it definitely helped me lose and then maintain my weight!