Healthy Foods

Eating Healthy with Organic Foods and Smart Food Substitutions

Organic food is defined as food grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, chemical preservatives or genetically engineered DNA. Organic farming doesn't use herbicides and other chemicals and is more labor intensive. The yield for crops are much smaller and therefore more expensive. The pay off is that organic foods are high in vitamins and minerals, tempting a good population to include these diets in their lifestyle.

Benefits of Organic food

No pesticide, fungicides residues on food
No synthetic residuals built into plants
No genetically engineered organisms
Realistic flavors
High in vitamin
High in minerals
Higher in anti oxidants

Organic farming vs. Conventional farming

Traditional farmers use chemical fertilizers in the soil to grow crops. Organic farmers build soil with natural fertilizer
In traditional farming, insecticides are used to kill the insects and diseases. Organic farmers use insect predators and barriers
Traditional farmers control weed growth by applying synthetic herbicides but crop rotation, tillage, hand weeding and mulches control weeds in Organic fields
Organic foods are not completely chemical free, but the pesticide residues will be much lower than those found in produce manufactured with synthetic chemicals.

Making Healthy Food Substitutions

Making Healthy food substitutions to your diet doesn't have to be a total change in the food you normally eat. By making healthy food substitutions you can get started the next time you eat or go to the grocery store. Many people believe that low fat foods are going to taste terrible, but many are very difficult to tell from the original. Below are some suggestions on how to start making healthy food substitutions in your diet today.

Use turkey or a veggie product instead of the of the beef or pork version. I've been doing this for many years now and the alternatives are quite good as well with less than half the calories and fat, sometimes even less than that. Products out there are sausage, bacon, burgers, pepperoni, and so many others.
Scale down you milk intake and switch to 2% or 1% from whole milk. Skim milk is a great alternative too. I've been drinking skim for a long time to and now I really don't like the fat in the others, it's just too thick. There is enough fat in the foods most people eat every day that having fat in your beverage is unnecessary.
Cut out soda all together if you can or switch to diet soda. Let's say you drink 5-6 12 ounce cans a day, that can be anywhere between 500 and 700 calories in regular sodas. That is a large portion of your calories for the day, and it is all sugar. If you will cut out soda and you will see some weight lost.
Try eating salsa instead of other fatty dips or cream based spreads. Salsa is delicious and comes in about countless different varieties. Most types have no or little fat, low calories and contain vitamins. Next time you are at the store compare a container of french onion dip to a jar of salsa. Salsa is much better for you.
Cut down or eliminate deep frying foods. Frying can turn something healthy into something very bad for you. Take a chicken breast for example, naturally they are quite healthy, but all that oil used in frying just won't allow it. Instead of deep frying take that that same piece with some lemon juice, garlic, and black pepper, bake it and now it's still tasty as well as good for you.
Canned produce make sure you read the label first. Many of the vegetables will have salt added to them and many of the fruits have additional sugar. When in doubt buy fresh or frozen produce. Frozen produce can be just as beneficial as fresh with the bonus of having a longer shelf life. If you buy canned tuna make sure to get the kind packed in water not oils, as the oil adds plenty of extra fat and calories that are unnecessary.

These are just a few substitutions you can use in your diet to replace some foods that aren't very good for you. Remember don't change everything at once; try to find substitutions you really do like, and then experiment with new ones. Start making these healthy food substitutions and your body will thank you for it down the road.