Breaking It Down

I feel a bit overwhelmed by the facts I have learned in the last month. It is weird how you learn things and then to you it is just common knowledge. I keep forgetting to write about some of the more important things that I learned at Hippocrates. So tonight I am going to try and get some of that information out to all of you.

First let's talk organic. Most people know that organic is better because they do not use pesticides to help grow the produce so we don't end up digesting chemicals. When they certify something to be organic it also means that they are using the soil properly. This means that the farmers change the crops to different fields every year and sometimes they will even let an area "rest". This means that the soil gets a chance to regain the minerals it needs to grow healthy fruits and vegetables. What happens in a lot of non organic farms is that they continually plant the same vegetables and deplete the soil of all nutrients so basically every year the plants get less and less nutrients. The thing that most people do not know about organic is that they do not let anyone radiate the vegetables. Many years ago they found that if they radiated the fruits and vegetables they would last weeks longer. Radiation kills the enzymes in the food which basically makes the breakdown of the product much slower. However, by killing the enzymes you loose out on most of the nutrients when you digest it. So not only are you not getting the enzymes you are eating the pesticides. If you don't believe me try this at home. Buy two of the same vegetables, one conventional and one organic and put them on your kitchen counter and watch the organic one break down much faster. You will be amazed. They also don't usually wax organic vegetables, so maybe they don't look as pretty as those conventional ones but basically they are the real deal. The prices for organic are higher but you can see that they are well worth the extra pennies...O.K. Maybe dollars but it is a small price to pay for quality. The more demand there is for organic then the more competitive the market will become. Did you know that Italy just became the first all organic country. It is going to be a few years until the change is complete but it is happening. How interesting that we are going back to the old ways of growing things. I guess newer isn't always better.

I am leaving you with these thoughts today. I have more interesting facts coming your way this week. Hope everyone is doing well and eating your veggies. Just a quick note to my friend Ann...no sprouts shouldn't be brown. Nice job trusting your instincts!!

Kristine