Going Organic

I have always been one to say that there is no such thing as good foods and bad foods.  Poptarts?  Sure.  Fruit loops?  Why not?  By the same token yogurt and my beloved Chobani and Go Lean Crunch abso-freakin-lutely.  Lately, however I may be admitting defeat to my dear friend Samantha and my extremely wise brother who have been telling me all along that some of these foods are just down right bad for me.  It is not because of the calories or the fat - nope that does not make a food "good" or "bad," but rather it is the processed ingredients, pesticides, and other toxins that are placed into or sprayed onto our foods.

Could not resist putting up Aaron's favorite picture

Ok so where did this come from all of a sudden?  The other day, while home in NJ, I was reading through my Fertility Forum, and some of my very strong, awesome lady friends were discussing the dangers of soy (e.g., soy lectin, tofu, soy protein, soy milk but not soy sauce) and how not only can certain types of soy cause specific types of cancer, but it can also wreck havoc on female hormones.  In particular, it can cause women to not have their period or to have irregular cycles. That is pretty much all I needed to hear, as you can imagine.   Check out this video here for a more thorough explanation.

The whole revelation pretty much led to me freaking out and looking at all the ingredients in the products in our home cabinets only to realize that everything, I  mean everything has soy lectin in it (o.k. not everything, thank goodness for Chobani).  My brother explained that the scene unfolded as the following.  "I (my brother) was sleeping and all of a sudden Steph goes into this panic that soy is going to kill us all thus disturbing me from getting a decent night's sleep."  And yea that is pretty much how it went.

I had this awesome picture of my brother and I, but I decided he would not love me so much for posting it, so you are stuck with another "Stephanie Freak-out Picture"

Anyway, once I calmed myself down and got over my anger about soy (which side note apparently my great uncle helped to create decades ago),  I had a good heart to heart conversation with my friend Samantha.   We talked about the dangers of processed foods and how she just tries to look at the labels and buys things with real ingredients.  Good rule of thumb is if you don't know what it is, probably not such a good sign.  She also explained how she tries to just cook a ton of things from scratch which eliminates a lot of the problems right then and there.  So we quickly set up a date for a cooking/baking extravaganza and I went on my way to the grocery store to find something, anything without SOY and other processed ingredients which are apparently going to kill me or at least mess with my hormones.

Now, I know what you are saying because I have said it too.  Everything can kill you.  Nothing is perfect.  Organic is just a fad.  And I used to really believe that.  But these days not so much.  After doing some more research and thinking, this is something I really want to try for now.  First of all, I want to be pregnant, I want to have a baby and maybe I can withstand all those toxins on my fruits and veggies, but I am really not so game on subjecting my future son or daughter to those things.  Second of all, through this whole amenorrhea process a lot of what I have defined as "healthy" has been sort of, well taken away from me.  This gives me just something to grasp to.  To allow me to feel just a bit healthy again, especially on those non-fiber days.  So there you have it.  I am going to have a go at it.    Try this whole organic thing and see what happens.  An experiment of sorts to see if I feel better, stronger, "healthier."

Plus what can be better than these cute looking Bunny-shaped snacks

Do you eat organic?  How do you feel about organic v. non-organic foods?