Keeping track of all the advice your receive regarding the foods you should and shouldn’t eat while pregnant can be overwhelming. However, one simple way to ensure better health for you and your unborn child is to switch to eating organic foods when pregnant. Research shows that there are numerous advantages to eating organic both during pregnancy and after your baby is born. If you have questions or concerns about any specific dietary issues, talk to your doctor.
Reduced Pesticide Consumption
Conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are treated with pesticides, herbicides and fungicides. Research conducted at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health in New York shows that pesticides cross the placenta during pregnancy and can impair fetal growth, according to a September, 2004 article in “Business Week.” Among the most heavily treated fruits are apples, berries, peaches and pears. Babies are particularly vulnerable to pesticides because their livers and immune systems are less efficient at removing contaminants.
Improved Nutrition
When you are eating for two you need the most nutrient-rich food possible, and organic foods are likely to be higher in vitamins and minerals than their non-organic equivalents. Author Michael Van Straten in “Organic Living” notes that fruit and vegetables grown in organic fields draw more nutrients from the soil, enhancing their nutritional profiles. Milk, eggs, meat and dairy from organic sources are also likely to be higher in beneficial nutrients thanks to better livestock nutrition and less intensive farming practices.
Reduced Disease Risk
Choosing organic meat and poultry products reduces your consumption of potentially, disease-causing chemicals because organic animals are not treated with artificial chemicals. Conventionally-reared animals are routinely dosed with drugs including antibiotics and growth hormones. The “Introduction To General, Organic and Biochemistry” states that this can lead to the appearance of resistant strains of bacteria, which can potentially contaminate meat products. Ingesting growth hormones via non-organic meat has been linked to some types of cancer.
Supporting Healthful Agriculture
One of the advantages of eating organic when pregnant is that you are helping protect the children of agricultural workers around the world. Agricultural exposure to pesticides is linked to increased rates of miscarriage, birth defects and stillbirth, notes Laura Satchel, MD in an article on the Fisher-Price website. Pesticide exposure in farm workers is also linked to a variety of problems including neural problems and cancer. Increased demand helps support organic agriculture and promotes responsible farming.
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