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So for a long time I resisted the whole "Organic" thing when it came to my foods. I rationalized that the gross majority of people ate commercial meat/produce and didn't have serious illnesses. I even joked with my nursing colleagues that the more antibiotics in my beef the less I would have to take when I was sick. And there was of course the price deterrent.
Lately I have been swayed by a number things to reconsider my stance...
- I realized that while many people are not acutely ill the prevalence of chronic disease is quite high (admittedly due to many known and unknown factors).
- I (and many on here) consume far more food and thus additives than the average person.
- If I can afford to do something that may benefit my health even if just a small amount why would I not do that?
- I realized I had already become mostly gluten free (aside from SKIPloads) unintentionally and that I actually felt much better and less bloated.
- I have a few professional chef friends who have much experience with different qualities of food who helped expose me to the great improvement in taste and freshness of local organic products.
- My wife and I have ratcheted up our focus and comittment to training and diet to an all time high. If we are going to commit to a top tier nutritionist like Skip to aid our performance shouldn't we commit to ourselves and provide the highest quality fuel for our bodies? I don't skimp and buy cheap supplements. Why would I do that with food of all things?
That was the main stuff off the top of my head. So anyway, I decided to go gluten free without being a total nazi (seasonings, spices, marinades, etc) and again felt much better. And I found things such as gluten free waffles I can barely taste the difference.
My next move was meat. It is admittedly almost twice the cost here with wild caught salmon and tuna even more so. This was the most noticeable difference though. Grass fed lean ground beef is not dry and bland like the normal stuff. It melts like butter in my mouth with only salt, pepper and a nice medium rare cooking. Chicken breast has barely any fat to be trimmed off versus the 25% loss in trimmings. And the chicken doesn't even need a knife to cut. A fork presses easily through. Fish as well is more flavorful. Produce I admittedly cannot tell as much a difference aside from some visual differences. I have not gotten organic free range eggs yet as I had quite a stock pile that is almost now depleted. I intend to go to the farmers market to get some bison next as well.
Is it more expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? I think so. Maybe not. Perhaps it is all placebo. Things like bloat and energy do feel better though. Will it save me from getting cancer in 25 years? Maybe and maybe not. Perhaps it is just my perspective with getting older, recently married and talking about a family in a few years that has me siding with the "better safe than sorry" perspective now.
Someone once joked that, "You will never see a poor person with a gluten allergy. They can't afford to be allergic to shit!". That may be true. But if you can afford it I recommend at least looking into it. Jess and I had to change some of our other expenditures to account for an increase in our grocery budget. But if you truly want to commit to being all you can be in the gym I now think being the healthiest you is just as important as the strongest you.
Anyone with more knowledge or experience than me feel free to offer those thoughts up as I would love to hear them.
Lately I have been swayed by a number things to reconsider my stance...
- I realized that while many people are not acutely ill the prevalence of chronic disease is quite high (admittedly due to many known and unknown factors).
- I (and many on here) consume far more food and thus additives than the average person.
- If I can afford to do something that may benefit my health even if just a small amount why would I not do that?
- I realized I had already become mostly gluten free (aside from SKIPloads) unintentionally and that I actually felt much better and less bloated.
- I have a few professional chef friends who have much experience with different qualities of food who helped expose me to the great improvement in taste and freshness of local organic products.
- My wife and I have ratcheted up our focus and comittment to training and diet to an all time high. If we are going to commit to a top tier nutritionist like Skip to aid our performance shouldn't we commit to ourselves and provide the highest quality fuel for our bodies? I don't skimp and buy cheap supplements. Why would I do that with food of all things?
That was the main stuff off the top of my head. So anyway, I decided to go gluten free without being a total nazi (seasonings, spices, marinades, etc) and again felt much better. And I found things such as gluten free waffles I can barely taste the difference.
My next move was meat. It is admittedly almost twice the cost here with wild caught salmon and tuna even more so. This was the most noticeable difference though. Grass fed lean ground beef is not dry and bland like the normal stuff. It melts like butter in my mouth with only salt, pepper and a nice medium rare cooking. Chicken breast has barely any fat to be trimmed off versus the 25% loss in trimmings. And the chicken doesn't even need a knife to cut. A fork presses easily through. Fish as well is more flavorful. Produce I admittedly cannot tell as much a difference aside from some visual differences. I have not gotten organic free range eggs yet as I had quite a stock pile that is almost now depleted. I intend to go to the farmers market to get some bison next as well.
Is it more expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? I think so. Maybe not. Perhaps it is all placebo. Things like bloat and energy do feel better though. Will it save me from getting cancer in 25 years? Maybe and maybe not. Perhaps it is just my perspective with getting older, recently married and talking about a family in a few years that has me siding with the "better safe than sorry" perspective now.
Someone once joked that, "You will never see a poor person with a gluten allergy. They can't afford to be allergic to shit!". That may be true. But if you can afford it I recommend at least looking into it. Jess and I had to change some of our other expenditures to account for an increase in our grocery budget. But if you truly want to commit to being all you can be in the gym I now think being the healthiest you is just as important as the strongest you.
Anyone with more knowledge or experience than me feel free to offer those thoughts up as I would love to hear them.
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