Pregnancy is a major life event, and therefore a great time to reflect on your health and what you eat! Now is the time to consider incorporating the benefits of organic food into your diet, here’s why:
- Organic foods contain no additives or pesticides! Organic food is grown naturally without the use of synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. This is a huge benefit as pesticide residue can pass through the placenta to the unborn child and can also eventually end up in the breast milk. The unborn child, babies and small children are much more susceptible to the effects of pesticide exposure than adults because their body systems are still developing. Unfortunately, the amount of pesticides that are allowed to remain in food in NZ is set according to what is considered safe for an adult, healthy male, not what is considered safe for a developing foetus, baby or small child.
- Organic food tastes better! Many who have done a taste test will attest to it, and emerging research is showing that what you eat during your pregnancy affects the taste preferences of your unborn child. Get them into great organic nutritious food from the very beginning and give them the taste for it and you won’t have to worry about food fights in the future!
- Switching to all organic would be ideal, especially during pregnancy, but this is probably not possible for most so it makes sense to start with the foods with the highest pesticide residues. Check out the ‘dirty dozen’ at www.safefood.org.nz for a great place to start.
In the top 5 you will find wheat. Bread is one of the staples we eat everyday and unfortunately much conventionally grown bread has high levels of pesticide residues.
In recent years 232 non-organic bread and wheat products were tested in NZ and a staggering 79.3% contained up to 23 different pesticides! (www.safefood.org.nz). The most common pesticide residues that have been found in bread are organophosphate pesticides, which are highly toxic pesticides that affect the nervous system and can affect the brain.
New research from Harvard shows that even tiny, allowable amounts of common pesticides can have a dramatic effect on the chemistry of the brain, and can contribute to hyper-activity in children.
But there is an alternative to pesticide-laden bread – bread that is made with certified organic ingredients. In NZ no law protects the word organic so ‘buyer beware’. To make sure you are getting genuinely organically produced food look for independent organic certification.
Here at Purebread our bread is BioGro certified and complies with their stringent regulations of chemical free growing, storage and sustainable farming practices.
All the ingredients in Purebread are exactly that, pure. Synthetic pesticides are not used in growing our organic grains, and no insecticides are used to store the wheat. We do not use additives or preservatives and deliver our bread fresh in its most delicious natural and healthful state. This ensures Purebread not only won’t harm you or your unborn child but will nourish you both naturally.
Great taste and Good health,
Robert
