Many thanks to Lisa for
bringing up the interesting question about the place of organic meats on a Zero
Carb diet. Even if it is not an easy question to answer…
The concept of ORGANIC
products is very attractive, as much as for plant material then animal
products. It is a sort of dream: eating food items, the purest they can be,
void of fungicides, insecticides, weed killers, preservatives, colorings, name
it, the list is long. Eating them the way nature has created them, for us, to
enjoy and survive.
But is this dream a reality?
Reality being such a decision
needs to be based on serious science, at least observational, not only on the
concept.
Organic food is generally
sold with vague, unsubstantiated claims that they are “safe” food, “healthier”
food and more “natural” food. It even has sort of a mystic thing about it that
reaches some sensible spots inside us, giving a sense of harmony with the
environment, plants, animals and the entire universe…
Sadly, it is a
misconception that buying organic means you are supporting local farmers and
more sustainable agriculture. Most of the organic food items in your local
supermarket are, nowadays, from big agribusiness that does imports from around
the planet where control on quality is largely disputable.
Historically, to be able to
sell a product as “organic”, the company had to answer one criterion: having a
business address “in the countryside”. Then, with years, when our governments
saw it was a big market and big money, they decided to regulate. But as we well
know, regulation is not everything…
Amusingly, a few years ago,
there was an arrival of organic products in store that came at an impossible
speed; the reason being a lot of products on the shelves were already “produced
organically”, but nobody knew about it, nor the agribusiness folks, nor the
clients. This is why, for example, paprika, which do not need, and never
needed, any chemicals to farm, became, from one day to another, labeled as
“organic paprika”… with, of course, an higher market price…
Not the least, organic food
isn’t any nutritious than conventional food. This is a big point. They do not
contain more proteins, more vitamins or minerals. If you have anemia and you
eat red meat to get some iron, you will not get more iron from organic meat then
from regular meat.
The problem nowadays with
food supply is the time it gets to arrive on your plate. And even in a world
where things goes faster and faster, our food is taking more and more time to
travel from the farm to your kitchen. And this is, sadly, a very bad point for
organic stuff. For example, it was discovered on many organic vegetables
serious mold growth, molds that are “at high risks’ for human health, simply
because they had to travel for days without any applications of “decay
preventive substances”… Strangely, they often spray CITRIC ACID as a preservative, which is not a big deal helth wise...
Most interestingly, some
farmers refuse to go “organic” especially if they raise animals. The reason
being that if they do and their animals get sick, they cannot treat them with
any medications because it would be “unorganic”...
As for the taste of organic
products, especially meat, according to a German study, there is no gain in flavor,
texture or any other aspects. So when you ear folks saying they had an “organic
steak” and the flavor was “outstanding”, let yourself have some doubts.
Personally, I think the only
food item where there are some scientific reasons to go organic is butter. The reason
being animal fats is where all the chemicals accumulate.
For the rest, there are NO
studies, whatever, showing organic products are better for human health. The
only we can find, are assumptions…