What a "Muscle Head" Says about Organic Food

By Tom Venuto
www.burnthefat.com

Part 2
(Click here to read part 1)

Beyond the "certified organic" label, grass fed beef and free range chicken (and eggs), have other advantages.

Not only can there be tons of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals in our meat, but also commercially raised beef is fed grain or corn and yet that is not what the animals were meant to eat.

The result - aside from sick, drugged animals - is a higher overall fat, higher saturated fat and a screwed up ratio of omega three to omega six fats, which is a very big problem today - even when you think you're eating "clean." Most people accept the idea that "you are what you eat," but they forget that the animals we eat are what they ate!

Last but not least, proponents of organic food suggest that the vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content of commercially grown foods can be anywhere from a little bit low to virtually absent.

So... if organic and or grass fed beef and free range chicken can help us avoid some of these problems and dangers, then I'm all for it and the extra investment.

I started eating grass fed beef almost exclusively (except for my occasional restaurant steak), quite a few years ago, and I even mentioned it in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

I can't say I eat entirely organic. I eat a lot of it, but not 100%. If I'm eating an apple or some blueberries, and it doesn't happen to be organic, I don’t freak out over it. When you really study deeply into the subject of food processing, industrial pollution and commercial farming, it can almost scare you half to death, but I don't recommend getting "alarmist" about it.

Sometimes it's the people who live in fear of a disease who are most likely to get it. I for one, am not going to live in a plastic bubble to isolate myself from a “toxic world”… oh, wait... make that a ceramic bubble, plastics are really bad for you.

All joking aside, the fear of toxins can be taken to the point where the fear itself is unhealthy, but the more I study this subject - from a variety of sources and perspectives - the more the organic argument does make sense to me.

I've built my career in fitness based on being a natural bodybuilder, which means no steroids or performance enhancing drugs, so why would I expose myself to other chemicals if I can avoid them?

Honestly, I can't say I noticed any dramatic change in my physique or in the way I feel, at least not yet. I have always eaten clean and I was a successful bodybuilder for many years before I started eating more organic food and grass fed beef.

However, I feel confident about my decision to spend the extra money on grass fed beef, free range chicken (and eggs), and an increasing amount of organic food, knowing that I am avoiding toxins and getting more of the nutritional value I need to support my training and my health long term.

I'm certain this is the type of nutritional lifestyle change that can accrue benefits over time, even if you don't see an immediate "transformation."

One thing I would suggest before you run out for organic fruits and vegetables or grass fed beef and so on, is to consider what kind of shape your diet and your lifestyle are in right now. If your diet is currently such a total mess that you’re drinking a lot of alcohol, smoking, abusing coffee and stimulants, not even eating ANY fruits and vegetables to begin with...

And if your idea of lean protein is the processed lunch meat you get in your foot long sub at the local deli, then I think it might be a little pointless to worry about whether your fruits and veggies are 100% certified organic or whether your beef is grass fed. Just start cleaning up your diet and establishing new healthy habits, one step at a time. Focus on nutrition and lifestyle improvement, not perfection.

There are some very strong opinions on this subject. I am aware of that, and I'm not going to stand up on a pulpit and preach either way. What I have done here is simply share what I have found from my own research and what I decided to do in my own personal health and bodybuilding regimen.

My advice to everyone else is to become educated about what is really in your food, including how it is raised or grown, and to continuously seek ways to improve your nutrition above the level it’s at now.

For more information about the "natural bodybuilder's method" for losing fat, building muscle and achieving peak health, visit here.