Are Natural/Organic Products Really Any Better?

Off Topic
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Well, y’all been busy over here! Thanks @ChickenLittle and @jshaving for pulling me into this rodeo. If there’s one thing I’m not short on, it’s opinions…

I’ll speak to the food piece since that’s my wheelhouse. So, full disclosure - I do not eat all organic, all grass fed, non-gmo, etc. As @T3hPwnisher alluded to, the devil is in the dose. My hard and fast rules for meat are if you’re not going to/can’t do grass fed and antibiotic free, then stick to the lean cuts. Grass fed meats are lower in saturated fat and higher in the good fats (even some omega 3’s here), than traditionally raised livestock. Additionally, antibiotics, chemicals and other bad stuff builds up primarily in an animals fat. So, if you want a rib-eye, porterhouse or a juicy burger then spend the big bucks and get the good stuff; if you’re eating 96/4 ground beef, round steak, and other low marbled cuts - don’t get twitchy if it ate some corn.

My opinions on fruits and veggies aren’t super militant. It’s better to eat them than it is to skip them if they aren’t organic and instead chow down on an organic, non-gmo, all-natural OREO knockoff. Seriously, people do this, I have a list… If you can afford it and have access to GOOD organic (not the stuff that looks all sad and was shipped from Guatemala at the grocery store), then go for it! If you don’t, don’t sweat it. I’m pretty sure eating a non-organic apple every day isn’t what’s going to kill you… Don’t major in the minors on this stuff.

I’ve had clients that have been absolutely adamant that everything they eat be organic, grass fed, non-gmo, etc. and at the same time be absolutely unwilling to give up their neon green pre-workout drink. I’ve also had clients that won’t eat at restaurants because they don’t know if the meat is grass fed, etc, or if the vegetables are organic, and still others that refuse to eat non-organic fruits and veggies insisting that their “greens powder” is better than the non-organic variety.

I do believe that eating locally or self-grown produce is super beneficial in terms of nutrition and avoiding some pesticides, etc., but I don’t believe that if you don’t have the means to get the good stuff - the $0.99 apples from Hy-Vee or Kroger are just fine.

Bottom line is that spending your days stressing, obsessing and focusing on the minutia regarding your food choices just might be as or more unhealthy than eating some cow that ate corn or some broccoli that wasn’t raised in organic dirt and was kissed by the gods.
Be smart - your diet should consist primarily of, organic/grass fed or not, lean meats, non-starchy veggies and heart healthy fats. Add some starchy veggies, whole grains and fruit per your metabolic needs and roll with it. Save the other stuff for treats - not full-on cheat days but a few “sprinkles of sanity” (that’s what I call treats…). If you follow that basic outline you’ll be healthier than a good 95% of the population - guaranteed or your money back.

And that concludes a Quad Queen reply that should have been a blog post… :rofl:

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I want to say this as someone who purchases bulk grass-fed beef from a local farmer but also still purchases lean conventional beef from the grocery store:

The omega-3 fatty acid content in grassfed beef is a bit overblown. Does it contain more than corn-fed beef? Yes. But I think something isn’t quite right if you identify grass-fed beef as an optimal source of omega-3 fatty acids. Something like a thumb-sized portion of salmon will do the job much better. It’s like choosing brown rice over white because the former is more “nutritious” and contains more fiber – really? Why would you seek micronutrients and fiber from a grain when, y’know, vegetables and fruits exist?

Consider Robb Wolf, who praised grass-fed beef for years, particularly because it contains a better fatty acid profile than grain-fed. Even he has changed his stance in recent years. He describes this in some podcasts and in his book Sacred Cow that he co-wrote with Diana Rodgers. He still very much believes in grass-fed but also embraces conventional beef (i.e., don’t let perfect be the enemy of good).

This isn’t to say that omega-3 fatty acids are the only thing that matters, as CLA is another factor. But I think beef in general offers a lot of nutrition regardless of the source, and, personally, I continue to buy grassfed beef more so for other reasons aside from nutritional minutia. I also suspect that grassfed beef from a local source will differ from the grassfed beef one can purchase from a nationwide supermarket, but what do I know.

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Actually, termites. There is a great movie on Netflix, “Fantastic Fungi” that features Stamets. It does go heavy on the medicinal aspect of mushrooms, including psiolocybe cubensis, but I found it fascinating.

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That was it!

Its not a mushroom documentary without touching on the cubensis.

The fall season is getting started around here now. I’ll probably start scouting around this weekend or next.

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