Resource Centers:(News, information, and tools to support your practice)
January 2010
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Defining organics
Choosing the best nutritional option
By Michael Roth, DC
In recent years, there has been a vast increase in the interest, growth, and consumption of organic produce and foods over more conventional fare.
Various reasons exist for this inclination toward organically raised foods including health, personal preference, and environmental benefits. Even with the growing popularity of organic foods, there still exists a level of confusion for the average consumer regarding meanings — especially among terms such as 100 percent organic, certified organic, and all-natural.
Generally, the term organic is defined as foods grown or produced without the use of chemicals. To the producer of organic foods, the word “organic” might mean healthy soil and crops. To consumers, it means no pesticides. Since there are differences in organic nomenclature for health awareness, it is essential to the consumer to have a more complete understanding of this term to ensure the correct and best choices in foods as explained below.
Specifically, organic food is produced by farmers who avoid the use of bio-persistent, nonselective chemical pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) states that organic farmers emphasize the use of renewable (or sustainable) resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.(1)
Organic farming
The Mayo Clinic provides the following comparison between conventional and organic farming: Farmers of organic goods apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants rather than chemicals.
They use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption, or traps to reduce or eliminate pests and disease rather than spraying with insecticides. They rotate crops, till, hand-weed, or mulch to manage weeds for organic fruits and vegetables, rather than using chemical herbicides or fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation.
These farmers also make sure that organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that were not the offspring of cloned animals and have been given organic feed for at least 12 months while allowing them access to the outdoors.
They also use preventive measures, such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet, and clean housing, to help minimize disease rather than giving antibiotics, growth hormones, and medications to prevent sickness and spur growth.(2)
An important distinction should be made at this point. Many people believe that organic farmers do not use pesticides. In actuality, if an organic farmer has an insect infestation or a disease threatening their crops, they will first likely attempt to control the problem with natural remedies.
If this is unsuccessful, however, they might resort to the use of a special kind of pesticide. The pesticide used must be approved for organic farmers and the pesticide must be intended for use in organic farming.
Living as opposed to dead
This information reveals some of the pitfalls of the conventional use of the term organic; however, it does not identify the more important and true scientific connotation of organic — containing “living carbon,” or “derived from living organisms,”3 not dead, synthetic, toxic carbonate.
And, as carbon-based beings, we need our foods from living organisms and thus should be eating the carbon-bonded health giving foods nature intended for us to eat.
A perfect example of the difference between “dead” foods and those that contain living carbon are minerals. Most of us get very few minerals from our diets and not nearly what our bodies require to function optimally.
Modern U.S. farming techniques have drastically increased the use of toxic chemicals, pesticides, and inorganic fertilizers. The 74th U.S. Congress categorically declared that 99 percent of Americans are deficient in organic trace minerals because modern “U.S. economic-based” farming and agricultural practices have destroyed our foods via eradication and near extinction of most critical, life-sustaining organic complexes, trace minerals, and elements from our soils.
These critical organic complexes and elements were, at one time, present in the soil before “U.S. economic-based” farming practices began in the mid 1930s and have only declined further since.4
Unfortunately, in addition to the lack of minerals in our foods — which act as catalysts for proper nutrition and cell function — most supplemental trace mineral products do not contain sufficient quantities of true organics to sustain our bodies.
Key differences
For true, organic nutrition, it makes sense to utilize supplements that incorporate organically complexed technology, derive nutrients from live, whole foods of the highest quality that are synergistically blended, and avoid the use of synthetic chemical ingredients, preservatives, binders, coatings, excipients, and flow agents as much as possible.
Understanding these key differences is half the battle, getting your patients to buy into the habit of a healthy lifestyle is your next step. Now that you understand the differences in nomenclature, you can educate your patients as to the proper nutritional definitions, so they can make better purchasing decisions for their family’s health and wellness.
Michael Roth, DC, obtained his chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College in Marietta, Ga. Roth has more than 25 years experience in health and nutrition. He is currently the patient protocol consultant and a distributor for Drucker Labs Inc., who manufactures and distributes health, wellness, and nutritional products.
*To read about the process of converting inorganic minerals into organic minerals, visit www.ChiroEco.com/conversion
References
[1] Organic Agricultural Products: Marketing and Trade Resources USDA, NAL, Alternative Farming Systems Information Center, 2005. Chapter I: Regulations, Laws and Legislation
2 1998-2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER).
3 Webster’s dictionary. Second College Edition. Prentice Hall Press. 1986 p. 1002
4 74th Congress, Report on Mineral Depletion, 1936, Reprinted from Readers’s Digest, Document 262
Can I have the definition, please?
The following explanations of food labels and legal definitions may come in handy when dealing with organics:
• 100 percent organic must contain 100 percent organically produced ingredients, excluding added water and salt.
• USDA organic must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients, excluding added water and salt.
• Made with organic ingredients (or similar statement) must contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients, excluding added water and salt.
• Contains some organic ingredients usually means the product contains less than 70 percent organic ingredients, excluding added water and salt.
• All-natural means foods are minimally processed and contain no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners (natural and organic are not interchangeable, although some supermarkets try to make them appear to be).
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