Organic Weight Loss

Organic weight loss refers to eating a predominantly organic foods diet to lose weight and to lose weight by eating a well-rounded diet in place of crash diets or consuming bars, canned milkshakes or frozen foods. The idea is to lose weight slowly and permanently by making a lifestyle change: it is not so much a short-term, lose weight diet as a new way of eating for life.

The US Department of Agriculture has revised its food pyramid to provide guidelines for vegans, vegetarians, teens, pregnant women and adults who want to lose weight.

Organic Foods

In order to be considered organic, one of a number of nonprofit organizations must certify that it was not grown or made with the use of pesticides, herbicides, genetic engineering or artificial hormones.

In the U.S., the U.S. Deptartment of Agriculture sets standards for foods to be labeled organic. For example, there should be no pesticide residue on organic grapes, and meat from cattle that have been injected with growth hormones is not considered to be organic.

Beyond the idea of eating organic fruits and vegetables for better human health is the notion of consumers choosing to not support companies that use large scale food production that involves pesticides.

Organic Weight Loss

Organic eating means eating mainly whole fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, fish, legumes, and nonsaturated fats in their least processed form. For example, rather than eating a sugary processed cereal made from bleached white flour, white cane sugar and artificial flavors and colors, an organic diet choice might be whole oats, served with 2 percent cow's milk, almond milk and banana slices.
The oatmeal provides fiber, protein, complex carbs and the bananas potassium and fruit sugars that are released more gradually to the bloodstream.

Eating several small, nutrient dense, high fiber meals--the kind you eat through an organic diet--will be more satisfying that eating a few large meals that do not provide nutrition or satiety, which will lead you more easily to weight loss.

Guidelines

Consult the USDA Food Pyramid to locate which version of an organic diet is most appropriate for you (Find a link in the References section.) Regardless of which style of diet you choose, whether it's a vegan diet composed of nothing but vegetables, for example, or a Mediterranean diet that includes cheese, meats and wine--you should generally get no more than 30 percent of daily calories from fat and, of that number, no more than
10 percent from saturated fats. Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and their consumption increases the risk for hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

To lose weight, you'll still have to trim 3,500 calories to lose one pound a week: a realistic goal. Eating an organic diet might help you reach a healthy weight as you will be eating foods that, in general, provide important vitamins, minerals and fiber and will not contribute to chronic disease or obesity.