3 Reasons Eating Local is Even Better Than Organic

I should go ahead and preface this post with a disclaimer. I could wait until the end to make this point, but inevitably someone would breeze right past it to the comments section and leave me a scathing reply about the value of organic food and how could I possibly ignore the benefits of said produce. So here it is:

I love organically grown food. I recommend people buy it and eat it on a regular basis. I personally buy it and eat it. It’s been shown that organic food has a far higher nutrient content than conventionally grown produce. In a study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, researchers found that:

• Organic lettuce had 29% more magnesium
• Organic spinach had 52% more vitamin C
• Organic carrots had 69% more magnesium
• Organic cabbage had 43% more vitamin C, 41% more iron and 40% more magnesium

(Worthington , Virginia . “Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains.” The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Vol. 7, 2. 2001.)

Those are some pretty hefty numbers. We all know it’s important to boost your intake of vitamin C to support your immune system and your overall health, but did you know that magnesium is required for the function of over 300 enzymes in your body and a magnesium deficiency is linked to headaches, fatigue, constipation, muscle cramps, and insomnia? There are several different ways to boost your magnesium intake and to make sure you’re not blocking magnesium absorption, but if you want to do so via what you eat, you’d better be eating organic.

But is that certified organic produce sitting on the grocery store shelves actually the best option you could choose?

I say most likely not!

To read why local food is even better than organic, click through to finish reading the post at Modern Alternative Kitchen!