Doctor Eats Only Organic For Three Years...Does It Work?

Fruits, vegetables and animals can be 100 percent organic. What about people?

In a fascinating experiment -- on himself -- Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician and author in Danville, Calif., decided to find out. For the last three years, Dr. Greene has eaten nothing but organic foods, whether he's cooking at home, dining out or snacking on the road.

He chose three years as a goal because that was the amount of time it took to have a breeding animal certified organic by the Department of Agriculture. While food growers comply with organic regulations every day, Dr. Greene wondered whether a person could meet the same standards.

It hasn't been easy.

"This isn't a way of eating I could recommend to anybody else because it's so far off the beaten food grid," said Dr. Greene, 49, the founder of a popular Web site about children's health, drgreene.com. "It was much more challenging than I thought it would be, and I thought it would be tough. There were definitely days where there was nothing I could find that was organic."

Keep reading to find out if it worked...

Comments

[kathynyc]

As a child, I wondered why the produce my family grew in our tiny backyard garden looked and tasted so drastically different from the produce we would buy at our supermarket.

The green apples I would pick from our tree were dense, firm yet tender, always juicy and gushed of tangy-tart flavor. Never dull. While the waxy bright fluorescent green apples from the store never measured up.

The tomatoes I picked always smelled of thick green vine and when cut, juice, seeds and pulp came gushing out. There was a zingy acidic-sweet flavor in each bright red slice.
The tomatoes from the store were sometimes too soft or firm, or mealy in texture. Never that same candy apple red color.

I didn't yet understand that the 'lives' of the produce in the store versus my garden were drastically different.

Fresh picked; versus, picked, sorted, shipped, boxed and sold. Watered with care in small quantities; versus, mass-produced.

Organic food stems from an idea: home-grown. Organic is spontaneous, natural. Not constructed.

I am certainly a fan of organic versus non-organic. On all levels, from societal to nutritional. But sometimes I wonder about a highly structured and regulated system which governs over 'certified organic farming'. It defeats the purpose.

Those apples and tomatoes I picked in my backyard as a child were indeed 100% organic. Yet I am certain that if I had filed an application to certify my yard --some government official would've denied it.

[thoughtmuse]

Do people get WHAT IS THE POINT?
I learned about organic and naturally grown food 40 years ago while a college student. That was long before organic was challenged and needed certification -- we accepted the integrity of the farmers who supplied us and understood their commitment to produce food in environmentally sound ways. What later threw a monkey wrench into the works was when the agri-businesses wanted to enter this (for them) lucrative market but still have the freedom to cut corners. Organic practices save the environment.
In the past 40 years, the quantity of processed, de-natured and "factory" grown food that has become available should give all of us a reason to do some serious thinking on this subject. BUT the fact remains: the touted immediate health benefits were never and are not the primary reason to choose organic. This "benefit" became a top selling point in these last 10 or 15 years of marketing because it plays well to the mindset "What's in it for me? " ¦AND it's comforting to know your food wasn't sprayed with pesticide right before you bought it
As commented, it's complex about how you"re healthier (or not) by choosing organic food. We do know we"re affected by how we FEEL about the activities and choices of our lives. If we feel a connection to the food we eat and if we feel we've purchased the best available, this goes a long way toward enhancing our lives and therefore, our health.

[thoughtmuse]

P.S. My above post was WAY too long so I cut a lot and rearranged -- now it sounds clunky...
HOWEVER, a final thought on organically produced health: we ultimately must find a way to stop poisoning the water and soil that produces our food AND supports the rest of our living circumstances. It's like continually piling junk in your back yard -- eventually the junk will start to affect your life AND your neighbors. There has been a lot of documented research about the adverse buildup of fertilizers and pesticides in our soil, groundwater, streams, lakes and rivers. Quite simply this pollution cannot go on forever. This is the reason organic farming is called sustainable. Whatever immediate health benefits come from organic food, the LONG TERM health benefits from a preserved healthy environment are the benefits we'll (hopefully) pass to our grandchildren.

[msjimmied]

Or start a vegetable garden! I have 2 8x4 raised beds and did not have to buy much in terms of produce. I had to give some away and my freezer holds a bunch more for winter. It's tucked into the backyard. Try it. You may be surprised how easy it is. Talk to your local nursery for info on when to plant etc. How green is that?!

[pokemon]

Yeah but find a local famrer or co-op and it will cost less. We paid 225.00 this year, for a spring, summer, and fall full of fresh veggies that were so organic the bugs enjoyed them too. Great for the local farmer, great for us, virtually no transport costs, very green, and the veggies we got in return for the cost was FAR less then we would have spent.

Now we grow our own chickens on a friends farm, will co-op grass fed Bison next year, and look forward to figuring out the fish / pond thing (we get local grown prawn now)

[SaraBradshaw]

My husband has recently been diagnosed with bone cancer and we have been eating organic as a family ever since. The difference is incredible.
Can read more about us here:
www.cricketfamily.blogspot.com

[KarateKid]

I have mixed feelings about organic foods. I do eat organic whenever I can, but I think that is not the only way to feeling healthier. This doctor's "experiment" is rather unscientific. I agree with BlackYowe's comment about the freshness of a lot of organic food I see in markets, and I certainly don't buy those things.

I think more important is to eat less meat, eat more fruits and vegetables, consume less dairy products, and exercise. This can be done while at home or on the road. Travelling on business, the easiest thing to do is stay at a hotel that has a kitchenette, like Residence Inn or Towne Place Suites. Shop at a local grocer, and take it back to the hotel and prepare it. The portions are more reasonable, you eliminate the possiblility of airborne viruses through restaurant exposure, and eat healthier.

I don't think eating organic is the only answer; common sense has a lot to do with being healthier, too.

[BlackYowe]

This is most unscientific. You are going to feel more active if you cut out allot of red meat and dark urine can mean allot of things. This is new age nonsence even if it was something done by a doctor. Eating Fresh food is far more important than eating all Organic. In many areas organic food is not even very fresh at all.

[McFlipFlop]

For non-organic veggies and fruits, the US Govt advises that you wash them for 5 minutes in warm water.

How many folks actually do this?

Pesticides cause cancer.

[jeanruss]

It seems the answer to the question in the title is YES!!!! It does work. This doctor was healthier and better able to perform his life after cleaning up his food. We have eaten organic for over 8 years and we also don't have colds or flu, have lots of energy and don't need prescription drugs. I guess that's why organics get dissed on corporate media all the time. No money to be made from people like us.

[Soule23]

"No money to be made from people like us."
-Unless you are growing it yourself, the big corporations that produce, distribute, and market (through fear tactics and pseudo-science) your organic food would probably disagree with you here.

[jeanruss]

Most of our organic food that we buy is local from small farmers. We buy very little processed food. The BIG money that I am talking about is all the healthcare costs incurred from poor nutrition, like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It is clearly established that eating clean organic food provides 40% more vitamins and minerals than conventional food. The only other aspect to good health is clean water. The worst contaminant (although there are many) is fluoride. Europe stopped fluoridating water about a decade ago because of its harm to human and animal health. We also installed a water filter that removes these contaminants and it was the best thing we evr purchased. All of our household water is now clean. It's a shame that this government allows industry to pollute its citizens, but hopefully as people become more informed things will change.,

[emily00011]

I don't eat organic and I don't have colds or flu and have plenty of energy. I would attribute it to sleeping and avoiding stress and a well-functioning immune system. Don't simplify the issue. It's complex.

[NoSillyName]

Oops, not gonna sign up at yet another website.

[NoSillyName]

Guess I have to read "the whole story" to find out what "work" means in this respect.

Gonna do that now.

[wolfgangmo]

IT is good to see that he has done this.

Three years is good but not great. My wife, a naturopathic physician, and I have been all organic for over 10 years. It is neither more expensive nor hard to find and I live in the backwoods of rural minnesota, not NYC.

I liked the trick of looking for bar codes on food that start with a 9 to identify organic. That is a neat idea. I wish the doc luck in keeping up the all organic.

It is the only way to go. If you compare safety of organics versus conventional, which has to use anti fungal/bacterial sprays and irradiation just to make their food safe there is no comparison.

Don't panic, just eat organic.

[ConcernedAboutRFuture]

So true! I try to cook organic for my family as much as possible... but it IS more expensive and here in FL, unavailable. When I lived in NJ and VT, there were locals who would sell their garden's delights to you any time and if you had a large freezer.... it was so easy to stay healthy all year.

The thing to ALSO consider in organic eating is not cooking in plastic or aluminum or teflon. These metals settle in brain tissue and cause irreparable damage over time and lead to disease. Teflon last for about 300 years and passes through the body, but when heated above 400 degrees, it releases a powerful toxin that kills birds. My friends bro-in-law was a biochemist from France and while visiting, threw out all of her teflon cookware.

Plastic.......don't get me started. All I do is store food in plastic but will not use the new "modern" techniques of cooking in plastic bags, or on plastic cookies sheets or cake pans.

Stainless steel, cast iron and organic food. A good start.

[gevan]

In the future Soylent Green will be made of organic people?

[weatherwaxx]

I'm sure organic is better - but cutting back on meat probably improved his health, too -- lightens the load on the digestive tract.

Nice to see a doctor who's willing to do his homework!