By Amie Valpone, The Healthy Apple

I didn’t understand what organic meant years ago before I went through my 12-year journey of chronic health issues.

It wasn’t until halfway through my health journey that I actually started to believe there might be something to this whole “eating organic” thing. I was skeptical, to say the least for many, many years. I mean, come on…the organic lettuce looks EXACTLY the same way the CONVENTIONAL (non-organic) lettuce looks so what is the big deal?

What I’ve realized since then is this: what is inside the food and sprayed on the food has nothing to do with what it looks like.

–Amie Valpone, The Healthy Apple

What’s important to understand is what is sprayed on the food you’re eating because when it rains, the rain drips off the plants that are sprayed and the pesticides go into the soil and yes, you guessed it, the roots! So, you can see how no matter how well you wash that apple of yours, it doesn’t matter because the pesticides and herbicides are INSIDE.

Did you know USDA Certified Organic is the most regulated and inspected label in food today?

Want to know an easy trick for finding organic produce in your food store?

Look for the #9 on your produce when you’re in the food store. The #9 means that the produce is organic! Be sure to check out the stickers on everything from apples to pears and lemons and limes.

HOW CHOOSING ORGANIC AFFECTS YOU

Your liver is in charge of taking all the toxins you’re bombarded with on a daily basis and removing them from your body. It’s a BIG job. I’ve been detoxing my liver for over a decade and I’m still working on it. What I want you to understand is the less amount of toxins (pesticides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics from conventional meats and eggs, over the counter pills, synthetic hormones such as birth control, alcohol, processed foods, etc) you put into your body, the better you will feel and the more energy you will have because your body will not be working so hard to try to remove synthetic chemicals, hormones and more.

See Amie’s full blog post about choosing organic, and her latest recipe here »