Does Eating Organic Really Matter?

Ever walk through your local farmers market and compare the price of organic to non-organic produce?  It’s stone fruit season. And the stand with the non-organic peaches, pluots and nectarines sells them for $2.00 per pound while the organic variety are going for almost double. And admit it, the non-organic produce is bigger and looks, you know, better. More uniform, fewer blemishes. Tell me you’ve never cheated on your organic commitment.

And is a little cheat that bad? Not according to our personal plant-based food bible, “How Not to Die.” The author, Dr. Gregor, advocates that we eat whole plants even if we do not have an organic option. He believes the amount of pesticide residue is low enough that the ill effects are more than offset by the many benefits of eating unprocessed plants.

But I just read some news that gave me pause.The non-profit planet advocate, Friends of the Earth just found everyone they tested – EVERYONE! - had detectable levels of the toxic weed-killer glyphosate (aka Bayer Monsanto’s Roundup®) in their systems.  You know Roundup. It’s the miracle product that kills weeds down to the roots without harming the grass, your garden, you, etc.  Perfectly safe ... except for the scientific studies that have discovered a causal link between glyphosate and Lymphoma, Leukemia and other cancers. 

Based on Friends of the Earth’s report: “Roundup® is the most widely used pesticide in the world -- and it is downright dangerous to our health. From breakfast to dinner, it is likely that you eat glyphosate-contaminated food several times a day. In addition to cancer, glyphosate has been linked to kidney and liver disease, shortened pregnancy, hormone disruption, and other serious health problems.

“Moreover, glyphosate is a key culprit in the massive decline of monarch butterflies and other pollinators over the past few decades. Today, 40% of all wild invertebrate pollinators are on the brink of extinction.”  Pretty bad, huh?

The link between Roundup and serious health problems was close enough that the manufacturer of Roundup recently paid $10,000,000,000 (yes, billions!) to settle a class action lawsuit.

But there is something of a silver lining. According to the study, people who consumed a completely organic diet saw their levels of glyphosate drop by 70 percent in only six days.

At Tamam Life, the benefits of an organic diet have always been intuitive.Given a choice between plants sprayed with nitrogen-based chemical fertilizers and poisons (the only name for pesticides) to kill pesky insects, or plants grown organically, we always select organic. It is always nice to find support for your choices in the scientific literature.

Even though it costs a little more and is sometimes challenging to find, every ingredient in Tamam Life products are certified organic. It is what we put into our own bodies and the bodies of our children.  We would not want you consuming anything less. Give organic plant drinks a try and find your healthy place at tamamlife.com.