going organic, part 1, questions

[lazydays]

My wife's doctor has been telling us it would be better for our kids (girls in particular) to eliminate foods with hormones added. So we have decided to give it a try. I have a lot of inflammation in my body and I'm hoping it might help with that as well. Here are my observations from the grocery store and some questions.

I'll start by asking a non-organic question. How important is it to eliminate food packaged in plastics? I've read a few articles that say the plastic leaches into the food and causes unknown problems. It is pretty hard to get away from using plastic baggies or plastic wrap, I'm not sure it is practical. Especially when it comes to freezing foods. So how important is it to eliminate food packaged in plastic?

I checked on the syrup (kids eat it every day) and could only find pure maple syrup in glass, no reduced sugar types, and it was about double the cost of any other syrup. I then looked for organic syrup and that tripled the cost to $15/bottle. Yikes!

I was amazed to learn about some foods that have preservatives in them, such as rice. I would have never guessed that rice would need preservatives! The cost of organic wasn't bad so I bought some jasmine rice.

I like to eat nuts for a snack at work. I've always read that nuts didn't need much in the way of pesticides but I may be wrong. What do you think, organic nuts or just regular nuts?

I did buy the organic milk which the kids drink almost every day. I looked at the organic cheeses but they didn't look too good so I'm sticking with regular cheese for now. The butter was absolutely atrocious in the pricing, about $7 for two-four sticks. That's pretty expensive but we don't eat a lot of butter, I may do it but I need a butter dish first.

I did pull out the bread maker (we discussed last week) and bought ingredients for it. Made a loaf of bread last night and it turned out real nice. Had a slice for breakfast along with locally made honey, watermelon and grapes. I normally eat a high fiber english muffin for breakfast, what is the best way to introduce high fiber to the bread I make at home?

I saw the organic eggs and I will buy those when I run out of the eggs I have now. I'm prepared to go organic but I'm not going to waste food to get there. I'll just start replacing things as I run out.

I saw some organic breakfast bars. The pictures on the box looked great. Anybody tried these? They were the kashi brand.

My wife had already switched to chicken without hormones so I feel good about that. Not sure if we can do that for beef or not, I've never seen a sign in the meat department. Might have to ask.

Ok, this is a fairly long and rambling email so I will wrap it up. Give me your thoughts on the benefits of organic foods, what I can expect in the way of health benefits, and any thoughts or tips you might have. Thank you.

oh, and if you have a favorite website for discussing organic foods please point me to it.

[jdc]

exactly why is you doctor telling you this?

is there some sort of medical condition that is causing this change?

define "inflammation" in your body? im not sure thats the right word you are looking for: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inflammation

right off the top of my head i would say you are over thinking it by a factor of at least 10

my family has gone the "organic" route for many things, its not that hard -- just use common sense when buying things

[anonymouse1]

In addition to the below, we try to do all our dairy as organic--especially butter and cheeses, where bad stuff concentrates. And all our meat is organic, but that's expensive.

One really REALLY good thing to do is to go to farmer's markets. Also, there's a fair selection at Trader Joes. If your economizing, Whole Foods is trouble--usually very expensive.

http://www.living-foods.com/articles/twelvelist.html

According to the Environmental Working Group, when it comes
to conventionally-grown produce, these are the 12 cleanest
kinds you can buy:

Twelve "cleanest non-organic foods"

• Asparagus
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Corn (sweet) AVOID: Probably Genetically Modified
• Kiwi
• Mangos
• Onions
• Papaya
• Pineapples
• Peas (sweet)
We don't recommend basing your diet solely on this list, but it's a
good healthy start towards meals that won't kill your appetite.
Since the EWG reports that more than half of our total dietary
risk from pesticides comes from just 12 foods:

Tweleve "RISKIEST foods
• Apples
• Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Cherries
• Imported Grapes
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Pears
• Potatoes
• Red Raspberries
• Spinach
• Strawberries
avoiding these foods for the most part, substituting from the clean list above, and eating organic and/or homegrown produce whenever possible can substantially cut down on your exposure to pesticides. When choosing foods from the above list, however, keep in mind that corn and sweet potatoes are among
those foods most likely to have been genetically modified. When
it comes to these two types of produce, consumers concerned
about GM foods as well will definitely want to seek out organic
alternatives to assure themselves of further safety.

[vicrock]

Easier to get another doctor!

[lazydays]

Thank you for your thoughts anonymouse1. I know this is a tech forum but I had anticipated a greater response. Perhaps the organic movement isn't as popular as I had assumed.

[ztirffritz]

jdc wrote:
exactly why is you doctor telling you this?

I'm not sure of the doctor's reasons, but I've read in several sources and seen firsthand that girls are 'growing up' much earlier. When I was in Jr. High/High School most of the girls looked like they hadn't hit puberty yet, by about 9th grade they were in full swing. Now it is happening in 4th-5th grade. That is a HUGE shift in only a few years (about 20 years in my case). My mother-in-law has been a teacher for several decades and she says that she has noticed the same thing. The average bra size is increasing dramatically too. I believe that most girls are now 'C' or 'D' cups. I imagine that this is affecting boys in some way too, but who knows how. My wife and I haven't been specifically seeking to go organic, but we've been working toward sourcing fresh foods with local sources. I've found a coworker to purchase eggs from (organic and cheaper than the grocery store!), and I purchased a side of beef from another coworker (organic and grass fed, again also cheaper than a grocery store). Between those two changes, I think that we've eliminated most of the concerns about non-organic foods that I have. I'm not too worried about the vegetables so much. I'm more concerned about hormones in meat.

[AAA]

I would say raw might be more important than organic perhaps.

Eat stuff that you don't (have to) cook.
I am having digestive issues and I try to eat some raw cheese, bananas, pineapple, apples, honey and apple cider vinegar. These are what I found that are listed as having many natural enzymes, which should help your tract.

[jesse]

You might try craigslist (farm and garden) if you're looking for hormone or antibiotic free beef. I've seen several ads here in Southern Oregon where people are selling quarter or sides of beef, It's usually someone who is raising for there own family and trying recoup some of the expense.

Fred Meyers has a decent selection of organic fruits and vegetables, I usually buy their large bags of carrots for juicing.

[jdc]

>>> The average bra size is increasing dramatically too. I believe that most girls are now 'C' or 'D' cups.

really? you have any facts to back this up?

sure, my MIL thinks girls are growing up much faster too -- too much TV with britney, hanna, taylor, etc, etc, etc -- but thats our generation. your MILs parents thought the 50's were wild and their girls were "growing up" much earlier too... have you seen those 2 piece suits in all those Elvis movies? YIKES!

sorry, but i think thats all in your head.

again, be smart... buy from the local farmers market, hit trader joes, hit the organic section in your store - -just those simple things are smart...

my wife bought a ton of BPA free plastic containers -- all of our cereal, crackers, etc, etc go in these now -- she puts the milk in a glass pitcher (frakin $4.50 organic milk grrrr)

[anonymouse1]

The hormone stuff is NOT in your head. The problems are being driven by many plasticizers (the chemicals that make plastic soft and bendable). They target some of the same pathways that hormones do.

I don't agree with everything that Wikipedia says, but this is a good start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor