Organic Foods and Whole Grain Foods

Organic Foods

What are organic foods? Foods grown without use of chemicals are organic foods.
In many cases, organic foods are grown on small family-type farms rather than large commercial enterprises.
Are organic foods better for you? If you have health concerns that might be affected by the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides, then the answer is probably yes.
Organic foods cost more unless you are growing your own. Economies of scale are not usually available for organic foods because they are grown on smaller farms.
Most people who eat foods grown on commercial farms and sold in retail grocery stores are not harmed by the methods used to fertilize the soil or rid the crop of pests. You can get more detailed and specific information about organic farming in books and magazines specifically written on the topic.

Whole Grain Food

Whole grains are in the news because of the health value they bring to your diet. Whole grains have not been processed enough to break down and destroy the healthy portion of the plant or seed.
A good example of a common whole grain food is whole wheat bread. If a common loaf of commercial white bread is purchased in the grocery store, the main ingrediant is enriched white flour. This is flour made from wheat, but the wheat has been processed to remove the outer shell and the wheat germ (part of the inner kernal) so the flour can be ground very fine and white.
When whole wheat is simply ground up into flour, the flour is heavier, courser, and darker. When bread is made from whole wheat, it turns out heavier and darker because the fiber has not been removed.
If you are making changes in your diet to include more whole grains, do it slowly. Your body uses fiber in the digestive process, and drastic changes will be noticable to you right away in the form of pain! Add whole wheat or other whole foods gradually so your body has time to adjust.
There are many health benefits acheived by adding whole grains to your diet. It is well worth taking some time to learn and experiment with different whole grains until you find the ones you like.