{"id":2399,"date":"2016-10-13T22:30:58","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/?p=2399"},"modified":"2016-10-13T23:01:28","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T23:01:28","slug":"organic-grass-fed-wild-caught-really-mean-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/nutrition\/organic-grass-fed-wild-caught-really-mean-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Organic, Grass-Fed, Wild-Caught: What They Really Mean and Should I Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"organic-grass-fed-wild-caught-what-they-really-mean-and-should-i-care\"<\/p>\n

Perception.<\/strong> It is the heart of many deceptive marketing tactics, at least in the health and fitness world. Whether something is healthy, is not the main concern. Rather, if they can get you to view (perceive) it as healthy is what they\u2019re really after.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Terms such as organic, grass-fed, and wild-caught are thrown around a lot but what do they really mean? In this article, we\u2019ll tackle some of these common terms and find out what they really mean.<\/p>\n

Organic<\/h3>\n

One of the most commonly referred to terms, “organic” is often misunderstood. A simple Google search yields the following definition, as it relates to food (commonly fruits and vegetables):<\/p>\n

\u201cproduced or involving production without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or other artificial agents.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far so good, ay? Now, let\u2019s look at the requirements that are necessary to put an organic label on certain foods.<\/p>\n

In the United Kingdom, you\u2019re able to label products \u2018organic\u2019 if you meet the following:<\/p>\n

1. at least 95% of the farm-grown ingredients are organic
\n2. you sell direct to customers<\/p>\n

Technically, the above requirements don\u2019t completely make it organic. The aforementioned definition says nothing about mostly void of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or artificial agents. The regulation allows for a bit more flexibility.<\/p>\n

According to the above standards, foods don\u2019t have to be 100% organic. As long as 95% of the ingredients are organic, it is considered to be “organic”. Personally, I think if we were to dig a bit deeper, I think we\u2019d find some nasty truths here.<\/p>\n

But perhaps, ignorance is bliss?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll leave it up to you to decide if you want to dig further. If you choose to do so, please comment below and let us know what you have found. I will say this, if organic foods require 95% of organic ingredients, I\u2019d hate to see the percentage of organic ingredients in \u201cconventionally\u201d grown produce.<\/p>\n

Click below\u00a0to continue to Page 2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Grass-Fed<\/h3>\n

This is a critical element when selecting beef. I have touched on this a bit in \u201cThe Ketogenic Diet<\/a><\/span><\/span>.\u201d You know how they say, \u201cyou are what you eat?\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, in reality, you are what you eat, eats.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The quality of the beef is directly related the diet of the cow. You see, vital nutrients are found in the soil and grass. Cows eat the grass and obtain the nutrients. These nutrients are stored in muscle and fat tissue. Humans consume these meats and obtain the nutrients stored in them. That is what you could call the “cycle of life”, in a nutshell.<\/p>\n

The soil has been depleted over the countless years of farming and ranching; however, it\u2019s still critical that we consume quality meats. To make up for that nutrient depletion, supplements are great gap-fillers (more on that in the future!)<\/p>\n

Grain-fed livestock do not offer the same quality nutrients in their meat and fat, as do grass-fed animals. Grass-fed meat is a good thing to look out for when buying beef, lamb, bison, or deer.<\/p>\n

Wild-Caught<\/h3>\n

This is very similar to what I said about beef, but with seafood. I live in the United States, and I know there is a huge difference between wild-caught and farm-raised seafood.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t take an expert to figure it out either. I walk back to the fresh seafood section in the grocery and compare the color of a wild-caught and farm-raised salmon (I would challenge you to do the same). The wild-caught has a vibrant pinkish-orange color. The farm-raised is quite dull and bland looking.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the difference, you ask? The fish\u2019s diet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wild-caught fish are in their natural habitat and eat their natural diet. Farm-raised fish are put into a habitat that is similar to their natural one but are fed grain, corn, and who knows what else.<\/p>\n

The quality of the nutrients, especially the fat, depends on the diet of the fish. Most people consider fish to be a great way to get your essential fatty acids (DHA and EPA specifically). That is true. Most seafood provides great quality fat but only if they eat a natural diet.<\/p>\n

When it boils down to it, the quality of the nutrients is essential. The better the food, the more quality nutrients, the healthier you will become. Do your best to give your body the best and it will reward you.<\/p>\n

On the flip side of that, don\u2019t stress too much if you occasionally don\u2019t eat wild-caught, organic, etc., it\u2019s what you eat 80 percent of the time that will determine your health. Enjoy some foods you that you like, on occasion, and strive for a balanced and healthy lifestyle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perception. It is the heart of many deceptive marketing tactics, at least in the health and fitness world. Whether something is healthy, is not the main concern. Rather, if they can get you to view (perceive) it as healthy is what they\u2019re really after. Terms such as organic, grass-fed, and wild-caught are thrown around a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}