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how choosing organic impacts your fertility

There has been all sorts of buzz around the word “organic”, I honestly prefer to say “toxin-free” food because many local farmers who choose not to use pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, steroids or genetically modified organisms can’t monetarily afford the often high price of the organic label. So we must use words beyond “organic” to encompass all the real food available to us.

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what does organic, or toxin-free, mean?

Eating toxic-free foods means that the foods you are choosing to consume are grown without pesticides, herbicides, or other repellents. No hormones, antibiotics or steroids are used in animal production. It means that the land the product is grown on is free of said toxins from previous use. Toxin-free foods have not been genetically modified, and are therefore not considered a GMO (genetically modified organism).

When you see the organic label, you can be assured that the criteria listed above has been met. If you are purchasing food directly from a local farmer who doesn’t have the organic label – ask them if they spray their crops with anything, what they feed their animals, if their animals are raised humanely, and if they avoid GMOs.

Clean meat and dairy means that the animals are fed pesticide- and insecticide-free; non-GMO feed, and are not given antibiotics or hormones to ‘bulk’ them up.

Animals accumulate and store toxins far more than plants do, so purchasing clean, humanely raised animal products is essential. If you have to choose what to purchase organic – always choose organic animal products and at least aim to buy the Dirty Dozen fruits and vegetables organic.

why you should choose organic, toxic-free, foods when trying to improve your fertility

Listen up men, this part is for you too!

Many of the pesticides, chemicals, and hormones used to treat fruit, veggies, grains, and animal products contain synthetic estrogen-like substances which occupy estrogen receptor sites and have negative side effects on our hormonal and reproductive systems. All that excess estrogen exposure wreaks havoc on your body’s delicate hormonal system.

In men, pesticides have been shown to negatively affect: the male reproductive tract, sperm health, sperm motility, sperm count, overall male fertility, and hormonal balance.

In women, pesticides negatively affect fertility by disrupting hormone synthesis, hormone release and storage, hormone transport, hormone receptors, thyroid function, and the central nervous system.

All of these are essential in maintaining a healthy reproductive system, and in turn, promoting your fertility … in both women and men!

Think about this for a second: when you eat food that was grown using pesticides, your body has to work harder to eliminate those pesticides. This process not only adds extra stress on your body, but it makes your liver work harder to detoxify.

When you consume meat and dairy from conventional factory farms, your body is ingesting the same chemicals, hormones, and antibiotics that the animal was fed. These hormones have the ability to disrupt your own internal hormone production. This imbalance can impede ovulation and even weaken egg health and sperm, making it difficult to get pregnant. Men who consume pesticides in their foods are 10 times more likely to have low sperm count!

Have I convinced you yet that clean, toxic-free foods are the way to go? Say YES!

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how to shop and eat organic

Here are some tips ‘n tricks on how to incorporate more organic, toxin-free, foods into your diet:

• choose fruit and vegetables that are free of pesticides, insecticides and herbicides, and are non-GMO.
• choose organic grains, especially wheat, oats and rice which are heavily sprayed with pesticides
• eat organic, grass-fed, whole fat, raw dairy (if you tolerate it)
• choose meat this is grass-fed, grass-finished and organic – meat with these credentials is higher in essential fatty acids and has higher amounts of key nutrients such as CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), carnitine and zinc – all of which are super important nutrients for optimal fertility
• choose free range, pasture-raised organic chicken
• purchase wild caught fish and seafood – the equivalent to “organically raised fish” if there were such a thing 🙂

EWG’s dirty dozen and clean fifteen

Whether organic or conventionally grown, fruits and vegetables are critical components of a healthy diet. However, many crops contain potentially harmful pesticides, even after washing, peeling or scrubbing, which the USDA does before testing each item. Since pesticide contamination varies by crop, it is important to understand which items are most or least contaminated.

When you’re at the grocery store and trying to determine which of the hundreds of fruits and veggies that you’re looking at should be purchased organic, always prioritize the dirty dozen – those products are what the EWG have determined to be the “dirtiest” in terms of pesticides and hormone-disrupting chemicals.

And, alternatively, the clean fifteen are the items that are the “cleanest” and safest to eat when not organic.

If you’re nerdy like me and want to get into the intricate details of th

EWG’s testing process, I highly recommend checking out their research.

Curious About Your Fertility? Do This!

the bottom line

✔️ Choosing organic is good for the environment.

✔️ Choosing organic is beneficial to your health.

✔️ Choosing organic is essential when trying to optimize fertility … in both women and men.