Choosing Organic Food and Trying to Live Within a Budget

 In today’s market it is becoming more and more difficult to pick organic. As saving money has become a bigger concern, the decision to be organic is a money issue instead of a health issue. To help with the decision you should know which foods you should be ready to spend the money on because of your health, and which you can make a monetary decision on.

When you are deciding on which fruits and vegetables the worst for pesticides are peaches and strawberries. No matter how much you wash them, they are saturated with poisons, so if you can’t afford to buy the organic strawberries and peaches, select something else.

Choose organic apples, nectarines, raspberries, pears, grapes and cherries; studies have shown that after rinsing, they still have really high levels of pesticide. If you are using orange, lime, or lemon zest, you want organic, as the skin holds the poisons in them.

When you are looking at papaya, pineapple, mango, and kiwi you can make it a monetary choice. Although there are traces of pesticides after rinsing, and I completely endorse organic, the scientists state they are well within healthy limits.

Always opt for organic bell peppers, spinach, potatoes, celery, cucumber, corn, green beans and carrots. There are a lot of recent studies that have shown that they have extremely high levels of poisons (especially chlorothalonil, methamidophos, benomyl and acephate), which have been shown to cause brain damage, nervous system damage, and birth defects. Asparagus, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet peas, and avocados show lower pesticide levels so you make the choice, although again I recommend organic, and if you shop around you will find reasonable prices for the above organic vegetables.

In today’s world of genetic modification and pesticides there are some basic staples you should always have organic. Along with corn, rice is one of the most modified grains in the world. So always want use organic rice. It is also a good idea to only use organic oats as their texture allows them to hold pesticides.

This is also true with nuts, as they have a very high fat content which retains pesticides, no matter how hard you try to get it out. So you should try to always buy organic nuts and spreads. As the spreads can be very costly, it may be easier to remove them from your diet. A different option is to buy the organic nuts and prepare your own spreads. There are a lot of recipes to be found on how to do it.

Meat is always a difficult decision, as organic meat can be pricey. But when you think about the chemicals that are being used in order to make it more profitable for the processors, you should always spend the money to buy organic. There are a lot of studies on the effects of the hormones and antibiotics that are being used on meat.

Seafood, is a very hard food to judge when it comes to organic. There are no real regulations on what is organic seafood, so the best choice you can make is to stay away from fish that is known to contain high levels of mercury and PCB’s. Bluefish, tuna, swordfish, and shellfish have high levels of both, otherwise you must do research on the latest studies.

Any manufacturer can put organic on the label, as long as they have used some organic ingredients. Be very wary of any processed and packaged food as what they say and what they actually are is not necessarily the same thing. Your best choice is to stay away from them, but if you choose to purchase them, do your research. Know what is actually in them, and find out how ethical the company is.

Choosing organic does not mean you have to go broke. Do your research and shop around for the best prices. With the Internet it becomes very easy to find the best prices on organic products and not break your budget.