The rising trends in organic foods have recently led to many people asking, just how does organic food affect your body? The truth is that organic food is generally a lot more expensive than other food (around 30% more - which can really add up), so it really makes sense for people to be wondering just what their money is going to be spent on.

Some people have claimed that organic food has absolutely zero effect, whilst others are saying it makes them feel more energized, helps them lose weight, and improve their general health. With so much media hype, just what are we supposed to believe?

Firstly, a quick overview of what organic food really means:

When food is usually grown, it is often encourage with the use of chemicals that can help farmers to get more produce, helping them to sell greater amounts of food. There are various chemicals used to help promote strength or the crop, how much of it grows and more. With organic food there are more strict processes, and they are designed to keep things natural i.e. avoiding the use of artificial chemicals. See below for more information.

If you want to know more about how organic food works to answer the question 'how does organic food affect your body?' then you should understand the way fertilizers are traditionally used.

Fertilizers are often made of chemicals to help stimulate growth of non-organic crops. These are often supplemented with other chemicals, such as pesticides, which can help keep the crop as healthy as possible - growing more and more.

The reason that people are not happy with these foods is that there will still be traces of the fertilizers and pesticides on the food when we buy them in stores. When you eat the food, you will also be eating a very small amount of these chemicals. There is speculation that these chemicals could be harming our health.

The main difference is that organic foods are not grown using any kind of chemical. There are certain methods that organic farmers will use to ensure the crop doesn't come into contact with potentially harmful chemicals. Since farmers can't grow as much, this is what drives up the cost of organic food.

There is contention as to whether organic food does or does not improve our health, hence my attempt to answer the question 'how does organic food affect your body?'

The trend towards organic food is growing from year to year, which is why research is being carried out all the time to determine exactly what the benefits of eating it really are.

Pesticides and Fertilizers

The main reason that organic food is said to be healthier is due to the fact that we won't be taking in toxic pesticides that can harm our body. Chemicals are known to increase th risk of disease and allergies, so by eating organic you can help to protect yourself.

This effect is particularly important when it comes to young children. Since they have a lower body weight, they are more vulnerable to these harmful ingredients when taken in through non-organic food. And the sad fact is that these chemicals are found on the common fruits and vegetables that our children eat each and every day.

Antibiotics

Pesticides aren't the only ingredient that we take in through eating non-organic food - antibiotics are another potential worry. They are given to animals each and every year, and taking them in through the meat may contribute to the number of infections increasing in humans.

Nutritional Value

One area where people are divided is whether organic food is more nutritional than non-organic food. There has not been much evidence to show that it is, but there are still numerous other health benefits to keeping an organic diet.

I hope this Hub has at least partly answered the question of 'how does organic food affect your body?' The issue is complicated to say the least, but studies are showing that there are a number of health benefits into going organic. And I almost forgot to mention - it's a lot better for our environment as well as our health!