What 'Healthy', 'Natural' And 'Organic' Really Mean

It is imperative that your diet contains foods that the body and brain recognise as food – in other words, those that provide you with the building blocks your body requires for outstanding energy and long-lasting vitality. This is the definition of healthy food.

Unfortunately, companies looking to promote their products frequently use misleading terms, confusing the general public. Below, we take a look at the most common of these terms and what to look out for when making a ‘safe’ purchase.

‘Healthy’ is a term appropriate for any foodstuff which provides you with good quality nutrients that can be utilised by the body for it’s various and many functions. However, foods fortified with nutrients (vitamins and minerals), for example breakfast cereals, are generally foods which are processed and have therefore been stripped of any naturally occurring nutrients (the nutrients they advertise tend to be added post-processing).  This makes them very hard for the body to digest. 

Foods that are eaten in the form in which they grew on/in the earth are ‘healthy’ foods (these foods are essentially exactly the same as ‘natural’ foods).

‘Natural’ should indicate foods that are completely unadulterated, such as whole grains, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, unroasted nuts and seeds, legumes, beans, raw (unpasteurised) dairy and animal proteins.

Don’t be fooled into believing a product is natural, just because it says so on the label. After all, fruit juice is natural when squeezed manually, but when the juice is extracted by means of heat (destroying any naturally occurring nutrients), had synthesized vitamins added to it and then stored for weeks in a plastic-lined carton (releasing toxic plasticides into the liquid), you’re not getting quite the same level of nutrition from it.

In fact, you’re getting a product, which is quite toxic and certainly very ‘dead’.

‘Organic’ refers to foods which have had no chemicals added to it through its growth span (this includes the soil in/on which it is grown), for example pesticides, growth hormones and anti-biotics.

It also refers to foods that have not been genetically modified in any way. This doesn’t mean that organic foods are always healthy, since you may find plenty of processed foodstuffs made with organic ingredients!

The bulk (if not all) of your diet should be made up of natural, healthy, organic foods and at least a third of what you eat should ideally be raw. You can get this in the form of salads, crudités, fruit, fresh vegetable juice, sprouts, nuts, seeds, rare meats etc.

Never forget – you are what you eat (and, more importantly, assimilate).