Trying to lose weight by eating organic only

snickerscharlie wrote: »

Many people mistakenly think that organic produce is better for them, since the organic industry has invested lots of $$ promoting the idea that 'regular' produce is laden with chemikills and toxinz, while theirs are as pure as the driven snow.

The truth, however, is an eye-opener.

Most commercially-produced "certified organic" food is regularly sprayed with 'approved' chemicals to control pests and disease throughout its growing cycle. So, basically, the entire organic food industry, imho, is a smoke-and-mirrors hoax that appeals to the misinformed and those people who really like the virtue-signalling opportunity that buying (overpriced) organic produce affords them. ("What? You don't feed your kids organic????")

There's plenty of scientific articles that support the fact that organic is pretty much a money-grab, but here's a layman one that is a good starting point for those who may be interested:

https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/04/21/enjoy-your-organic-produce-and-its-toxic-pesticides

To the OP: Buy organic if that floats your boat. But - as I see you've already realized - weight management is 100% governed by the amount of calories a person consumes in a day. An organic apple and a regular one (of the identical size and type) contain the same amount of calories.

The pesticide in that article is Rotenone, which hasn't been in use in the US for some time.

https://www.ecowatch.com/pesticides-organic-farming-2292594453.html

Debunking 'Alternative Facts' About Pesticides and Organic Farming

Ken Roseboro Mar. 01, 2017

With the growing demand for organic foods in the U.S., there has been a backlash from agribusiness groups, companies and individuals who see organic as a threat to their interests. These critics accuse the organic industry of using deceptive marketing practices to get consumers to pay more money for organic food. Another line of attack has been that organic farmers use lots of pesticides, some of which are more toxic than those used by conventional farmers.

The reality is that some organic farmers do use pesticides but such products are primarily derived from natural substances, go through a strict regulatory approval process to ensure they are not harmful to the environment and human health and are only allowed to be used when other pest control methods aren't successful.

The fact is that the organic farming and food movement is based on producing healthier foods without the use of toxic pesticides.

25 Organic-Approved Synthetic Pesticides vs. 900 Conventional

However, organic farmers, like their conventional counterparts, face challenges with weeds, insects and diseases. To help address those challenges, the National Organic Program allows the use of certain natural-based and synthetic substances as pesticides. The National Organic Program's National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances details about 25 synthetic products that are allowed to be used in organic crop production. These include alcohols, copper sulfate and hydrogen peroxide. By contrast, there are some 900 synthetic pesticides approved for use in conventional farming.

There are also many natural-based substances used as pesticides that are allowed in organic farming. These include neem oil, diatomaceous earth and pepper.

"When you look at the substances themselves and not at the use rates, organic represents the least toxic set of substances," said Nate Lewis, farm policy director at the Organic Trade Association. "The difference is pretty striking."

...One of the most widely spread myths about organic-approved pesticides is that organic farmers use Rotenone, a broad-spectrum insecticide known for its toxicity. While it has been used in the past, the current reality is that the EPA has banned Rotenone for use in the U.S, though Lewis says it is still used in some countries that grow organic bananas. "The NOSB [National Organic Standards Board] has passed a recommendation to prohibit it outright. We are awaiting NOP [National Organic Program] action on that."

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/american-council-science-health-leaked-documents-fundraising/

Leaked Documents Reveal the Secret Finances of a Pro-Industry Science Group

The American Council on Science and Health defends fracking, BPA, and pesticides. Guess who their funders are.

...internal financial documents (read them here) provided to Mother Jones show that ACSH depends heavily on funding from corporations that have a financial stake in the scientific debates it aims to shape. The group also directly solicits donations from these industry sources around specific issues. ACSH’s financial links to corporations involved in hot-button health and safety controversies have been highlighted in the past, but these documents offer a more extensive accounting of ACSH’s reliance on industry money—giving a rare window into the operations of a prominent and frequent defender of industry in the science wars.

To me, eating organic and sticking to the Dirty Dozen put out by EWG just makes sense in reducing your chance for lots of conditions as you get older. Also I try to only eat organic, grass fed meats and chicken and lots of sustainable fish. Have been doing this for the past 6 years - But still gain weight - you can over eat organic just like any other food - Now trying to lose 35 lbs - Green juice organic every day - really cleans you out!! Digestion problems should have a DR check. Hope this helps.

Pamela_Sue wrote: »

Hello! For me, I was unable to jump entirely into losing weight mode while also changing to organic at the same time. Over the past year+ I made incremental changes to my method of eating and the foods I intake. I learned early on I could only be successful by making one change at a time. Now that I am happy with my food intake, I have decided to switch to some organic. I use the following 'Dirty Dozen' list and focus on buying organic for those specific fruits and vegetables. I also do buy canned organic if the price is close to regular foods.[

https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php

That being said, organic alone will have zero bearing on your weight loss.

^^^ One of the most measured comments on this thread.

Yeah, the American Council on Science and Health is shilling for private industry. But that does not mean eating organic will help you lose weight. Creating a calorie deficit is what makes you lose weight.

missysippy930 wrote: »

I could never wrap my mind around “organic”. I live in the country, amongst farmers, some organic. They irrigate their crops from the same water supply. Runoff from fertilizers, etc, go into the water supply they both use. Not to mention the airborne chemicals that are in the air. The pollution that comes down with the rain. Best laid plans. I support the local farmers market, but am dubious about “organic” at the grocery store.

This could be written by me.

eddiesmith1 wrote: »

While organics may see fewer chemicals enter your system, they are not any better nutritionally than non-organic. they can be better for the environment (though not if that red pepper traveled thousands of miles versus a non-organic one grown locally. avoiding processed foods is not a bad thing but organic is nothing to do with that. personally I will avoid GMO that introduce things like neo nicitinoids into plants not because all GMO is bad (it's not all bad selective breeding has gone on for centuries and is really just a variation on the concept) but because it is introducing an element that should not be in the DNA of the plant and is killing off bee populations. I am fussy on how my meats are grown and processed. First I don't like to see animals mistreated and factory farms and large scale processing plants are notorious for it. i also prefer to ensure diversity in the food supply so I will buy heritage breeds that come through smaller farms (they taste better, the animals are treated better and killed humanely) the same holds true for Veg I will encourage and support heritage vegetables because loss of diversity in the food supply is a huge threat to humanity . in many cases supporting this also supports organic but almost always supports local whether organic rules are met or not

Yes, I am passionate about buying some things locally and a lot of that is selfishly about the taste. I'm in Massachusetts and won't touch supermarket peaches, but the ones grown in the next town are AMAZING! Also, the honeycrisp apples from this local orchard are better than the ones I've been buying since they ran out for the season, which was months ago, sadly.

I am also less concerned about organic when buying from local farms, as they are small and do not use all of the practices described by a Jerome, Idaho potato farmer in this article by Michael Pollan: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/25/magazine/playing-god-in-the-garden.html (Note: Monitor has since been withdrawn from the market.)