What A "Muscle Head" Says About Organic Food
By Tom Venuto, Natural Bodybuilder
www.burnthefat.com
Last week I was talking about nutrition with one of my workout buddies
and when I mentioned grass fed beef and "organic food” he asked, "Do
you mean like what you get at Whole Foods Market?"
I said, "Yes, exactly... that's a natural food and organic supermarket." He
said, "Yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!"
I was rolling on the floor laughing, but the truth is, organic food really
is expensive and so is grass fed beef and free range chicken, so it's a
valid question to ask, “Is it worth it?”
After researching the subject and doing some personal experiments with
my own diet, let me offer you my take on it from a bodybuilder’s viewpoint.
This is a perspective on organics you may not have heard before.
First, look at it this way - if you put the cheapest fuel in your luxury
car, how well is it going to run and how many miles are you going to get
out of it?
While I'm on car analogies, health and fitness author and educator Paul
Chek once wrote about how ridiculous it is to watch how many $75,000 + cars
pull up to the Mcdonald's or Burger King drive through window to buy $1.99
hamburgers.
I would say that's a serious case of screwed up priorities, wouldn't you?
The driver has no problem shelling out the $1,100 monthly car payment, but
it's too much to ask him to put premium fuel into his own "bodily vehicle."
How can you put ANY price tag on your body and your health? You can buy
another car, but you've only got one body.
Now, as for the grass fed beef and organic foods question….
For best results in body composition improvement, which I define as burning
fat and or building muscle, (and I'll even go as far as to say for optimal
health as well), I am a believer in including animal proteins, including
lean meats.
I have no wish to take up the vegetarian debate in this article. I respect
vegetarians and acknowledge that a healthy and lean body can be developed
with a vegetarian diet if it is done properly, although it may be more challenging
for strict vegans to gain muscle for various reasons.
However, in recommending animal protein as part of a healthy fat loss and
muscle building nutrition program, I do agree that we all need to give some
serious thought to what is in our meat (and in the rest of our food).
Some people say that meat is part of our “evolutionary” diet
and it’s the way we were intended to eat and I wouldn’t argue
with that. But is the meat we’re eating in today’s modern society
the same as what was hunted and eaten many thousands of years ago by our
cave-man ancestors, or has some “toxic stuff” found its way
into our beef, poultry and fish that wasn’t there before?
I also think we should consider what is *missing* from our commercially
grown food, that is supposed to be in there, that probably used to be there
in the past, but may not be today.
A lot of people are not paying any attention to this... even people who
should know better. I admit it - I was oblivious to this for a long time
myself. Here’s why:
I am not your typical "health and wellness" or "weight loss" expert. I
am also competitive bodybuilder. We bodybuilders are well known for eating
very clean diets with lots of lean protein and natural carbs, as well as
for looking like "the picture of health" with our ripped abs and impressive
muscularity.
We eat our oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast, and proudly walk around
with our chicken breast, rice and broccoli or our flank steak, yams and
asparagus, and boast about how perfect and clean our meals are and how our
diets are already “clean” and could not be improved.
But how many bodybuilders or fitness enthusiasts are there - even serious,
dedicated and educated ones - who don't give a single thought to the poisonous
chemicals that might be lurking in our supposedly "clean" food?
The Food and Drug Administration lists more than 3,000 chemicals that can
be added to our food supply. One billion pounds of pesticides and farming
chemicals are used on our crops every year.
Depending on what source you quote, the average American consumes as much
as 150 pounds of chemicals and food additives per year.
Does ANYBODY out there think that this is good for you?
Didn't think so.
If you had a way to avoid all these chemicals and toxins, would you at
least explore it, even if it cost a little more?
Although this topic is controversial and hotly debated, organic food is
gaining in popularity and seems to fit this bill.
Food grown on certified organic farms does not contain:
Pesticides
Herbicides
Fungicides
Hormones
Antibiotics
Chemical fertilizers
It is also not:
Irradiated
Genetically modified
Beyond the "certified organic" label, grass fed beef and free
range chicken (and eggs), have other advantages.
Not only can there be tons of antibiotics, hormones, and other
chemicals in our meat, but also commercially raised beef is fed
grain or corn and yet that is not what the animals were meant to
eat.
The result - aside from sick, drugged animals - is a higher overall
fat, higher saturated fat and a screwed up ratio of omega three
to omega six fats, which is a very big problem today - even when
you think you're eating "clean." Most people accept the idea that “you
are what you eat,” but they forget that the animals we eat
are what they ate!
Last but not least, proponents of organic food suggest that the
vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content of commercially grown
foods can be anywhere from a little bit low to virtually absent.
So... if organic and or grass fed beef and free range chicken
can help us avoid some of these problems and dangers, then I'm
all for it and the extra investment.
I started eating grass fed beef almost exclusively (except for
my occasional restaurant steak), quite a few years ago, and I even
mentioned it in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle (
www.burnthefat.com).
I can't say I eat entirely organic. I eat a lot of it, but not
100%. If I'm eating an apple or some blueberries, and it doesn't
happen to be organic, I don’t freak out over it. When you
really study deeply into the subject of food processing, industrial
pollution and commercial farming, it can almost scare you half
to death, but I don't recommend getting "alarmist" about it.
Sometimes it's the people who live in fear of a disease who are
most likely to get it. I for one, am not going to live in a plastic
bubble to isolate myself from a “toxic world”… oh,
wait... make that a ceramic bubble, plastics are really bad for
you.
All joking aside, the fear of toxins can be taken to the point
where the fear itself is unhealthy, but the more I study this subject
- from a variety of sources and perspectives - the more the organic
argument does make sense to me.
I’ve built my career in fitness based on being a natural
bodybuilder, which means no steroids or performance enhancing drugs,
so why would I expose myself to other chemicals if I can avoid
them?
Honestly, I can't say I noticed any dramatic change in my physique
or in the way I feel – at least not yet. I have always eaten
clean and I was a successful bodybuilder for many years before
I started eating more organic food and grass fed beef.
However, I feel confident about my decision to spend the extra
money on grass fed beef, free range chicken (and eggs), and an
increasing amount of organic food, knowing that I am avoiding toxins
and getting more of the nutritional value I need to support my
training and my health long term.
I'm certain this is the type of nutritional lifestyle change that
can accrue benefits over time, even if you don't see an immediate "transformation."
One thing I would suggest before you run out for organic fruits
and vegetables or grass fed beef and so on, is to consider what
kind of shape your diet and your lifestyle are in right now. If
your diet is currently such a total mess that you’re drinking
a lot of alcohol, smoking, abusing coffee and stimulants, not even
eating ANY fruits and vegetables to begin with...
And if your idea of lean protein is the processed lunch meat you
get in your foot long sub at the local deli, then I think it might
be a little moot to worry about whether your fruits and veggies
are 100% certified organic or whether your beef is grass fed. Just
start cleaning up your diet and establishing new healthy habits,
one step at a time. Focus on nutrition and lifestyle improvement,
not perfection.
There are some very strong opinions on this subject. I am aware
of that, and I'm not going to stand up on a pulpit and preach either
way. What I have done here is simply share what I have found from
my own research and what I decided to do in my own personal health
and bodybuilding regimen.
My advice to everyone else is to become educated about what is
really in your food, including how it is raised or grown, and to
continuously seek ways to improve your nutrition above the level
it’s at now.
For more information about the "natural bodybuilder's method" for
losing fat, building muscle and achieving peak health, visit:
www.burnthefat.com
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best
selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches
you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known
secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn
how to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism
by visiting:
www.burnthefat.com. To get Tom's free fitness
newsletter, visit: www.tomvenuto.com
