We all know that eating organic is best. But why? We asked Dr. Kate Ferguson, a licensed Naturopathic Doctor serving Orangeville and Waterloo area, to weigh in on how eating organic can make a difference in our overall health.
Eat local
Local food that hasn’t travelled a long time to get to your plate is fresher, more nutrient dense and tastes better! Ensuring adequate vitamin C, Zinc, iron, and magnesium from fruits and vegetables is the key to supporting healthy hormones. Leafy greens, fresh fruits, seasonal root vegetables, and squash are high in these vitamins and minerals and should be incorporated into every meal. A diet full of local fresh fruits and vegetables is a pillar of restoring hormonal balance in the body.
Eating free range eggs and chicken is also a great way to get enough vitamin b12 in our diets, which is essential for a balanced metabolism and energy support.
Eat with the seasons
Choose seasonal foods from local farmers to support your digestive and hormonal health. Foods that are in season are fresh, nutrient rich, and hand picked shortly before your consumption. Out of season foods are harvested before they are ripe so they can be shipped to their destination, these foods are less nutrient rich and contribute to global pollution. Eating with the seasons creates diversity in our diet and supports hormonal balance by supplying higher doses essential vitamins and minerals.
Choose Organic
Choosing organic fruits and vegetables helps support your hormonal health. Pesticides are known endocrine disruptors which means they can disrupt the normal functioning many different hormones in the body including thyroid hormones and reproductive hormones. These chemicals are known to have a negative impact on fertility, normal menstrual cycles, and menopausal symptoms in women.
Pasture-raised
Conventional chickens are often given antibiotics which when ingested by humans may cause antibiotic resistance and negatively impact our healthy gut bacteria. Choosing pasture raised chickens that are raised without the use of antibiotics and hormones can eliminate the burden of exogenous hormones on our systems.
Choosing local, farm fresh food not only supports your local farmers, it supports your body and hormonal health!
Winterhill Farm and Garden 