Is eating organic really that much better for weight loss?

I went on youtube last night and I watched a video of this girl who said that all she did to lose weight was cut out the processed foods and eat organic.  Now, obviously she must have at least accidently cut calories, but do you think organic or less processed foods facilitate weight loss or that processed/chemically foods inhibit weight loss?

What has your experience been?

I thought the only difference between organic and non-organic food is the lack of pesticides (etc) and the fact that they should have more nutrients. It would have been cutting out the processed food that would have made her lose weight. I think you can lose weight regardless of whether you eat healthily or not but in my opinion its much easier, the healthier you eat. In other words, I don't think every calorie is equal!

i dont know what organic exactly means, but the girl was basically saying that chemicals make you fat secretly even when you are trying to count calories and stuff.  she cut out chemicals and ate very naturally and lost weight.  i dont know how i feel about it

 I think so, because processed = high sodium content along with a lot of other things that are bad for you. I have RECENTLY completely reduced all processed foods except for cans of beans (which I rinse), whole wheat pasta and the ocassional sweet. Everything else I buy either from the farmer's market or I go daily to the supermarket for fresh vegs. I think it's making a difference, of course I cut the cals down too. I do half organic and half normal for meat and veggies, because here the selection is quite small. But for milk and dairy and fruit, organic.

Organic means without pesticides and horomones that are used nowdays to make food "pretty"or last longer. Some of it is very scary what they do to food, especially in America. Unless you buy milk specifically stating that it doesn't have growth horomones, you might end up having your period at age ten and boys grow man boobs.

Some organic veggies are not as colorful or as large as you are used to, but that's a good thing! I was surprised on how small chickens actually are when they are not given growth horomones...Organic is good.

The difference is replacing packaged processed food with more fruits and vegetables, not organic per se.

These days you can get "organic" sugary cereals and oreo-style cookies, which are plenty processed but made with organic incredients.  You could eat a poor diet with these processed foods, too.

I eat plenty of organic food - mostly from the local farmers market. Not only is it more nutritious, it's healthier for the farm workers and the environment.  The in-season food in the farmers market is cheaper than the marked-up produce at Whole Foods.

Well, I've replaced my bread with orgnic, no HFCS and no enriched/bleached flour, it's all whole wheat flour.  I only did that because highfructose corn syrup gives me migraines, along with processed flours - but as a side effect it's less crap for my body to have to filter out.

Well, here's what I'll tell you. Basically, here in the states, I maintain my weight at like 1800 cals a day. Which is pretty miniscule for maintenance tbh. When I go to Belarus though (where I'm from), there is no "organic" or "inorganic" because it's all pretty much organic, lol. Anyway. When I go there in the summer for like two months, I can eat 3500-4000 cals a day and not gain anything.

So yeah, you could argue that the only diff. b/w organic and inorganic is lack of pesticides, chemicals, hormones, blah blah blah, but they really do affect your body. In the US, you have to worry about eating all these "right" foods most of the time (whole grains, veg, fruit, lowfat dairy, etc, whatever), but over there not one of my friends or cousins pay attention to that. We eat eggs and pork fried in lard with like two giant pancakes and full-fat milk for breakfast. Fried fish with skin and fried potatoes with salad and sour cream for dinner. And before ya go to bed, two pieces of toast with butter and honey, and tea. With real sugar or preserves. And that's a typical daily menu, it doesn't even touch upon the holidays! Sound like a heart attack waiting to happen? Nah. Everyone eats that and is fairly healthy. Why? Cause it's all natural, grown in your own garden, and home made... I was 115-120 lbs (i'm 5' 6") when I went there in the summer, and came back at 115.

Now I started eating here in the US again, and in like a month, a whopping 135-140. Yeah, you can tell me "oh your bmi is normal" or whatever, but I don't care about that. I'm just saying I gained a lot in a very short amount of time. I also have acne and am getting sick like every two weeks, whereas at 115 I had perfect skin and no illness for almost 9 months. BMIs can be "normal", but what my body tells me is much more important than some number defined by the WHO.

In short, yeah, there is something wrong with the inorganic food that's full of fillers, artificial ingredients, hormones, etc. And it's not the calories.

The difference isn't whether or not the food is organic; it's the level of processing.  Given the choice between buying fruit/vegetables from a local farmer who's used pesticides or going to the grocery store and buying "organic produce" shipped in from hundreds/thousands of miles away, I'm going with the local farmer every time.  Why?  Because the produce is picked when it's ripe so it has more nutrients and tastes better.  *That's* the issue with grocery store produce.  Not the pesticides/fertilizers used to grow it.  I suspect that's really what stronger's noticing in Belarus - the freshness of the veggies right out of the garden.  The weight gain in the US is probably mostly water weight from sodium in processed food.

Now, organic meat/dairy is a different issue - because now you're talking about introducing extra hormones into the animals as opposed to slightly changing where a vegetable gets its nitrogen from.

Well, if your food budget stays the same, it's not going to go as far buying organic foods so you will have fewer calories.

Cutting out processed foods is a very good idea when it's feasible.  Also, despite what packages say, they do not all report the correct calorie count.

stronger_ another thought, when you're not in the states you are probably much more active.  Bike riding, walking, playing,e tc.

Original Post by smwhipple:

stronger_ another thought, when you're not in the states you are probably much more active.  Bike riding, walking, playing,e tc.

Well, not quite. I'm a college student, so walking, running, and activity galore. :]

I notice that when I'm not eating organic, I eat worse. When I'm eating organic, I'll have beans, cheese, fruits and veggies, nuts, whole grains... good stuff. My non-organic choices are always something along the lines of "a whole tub of country crock scalloped potatoes", which is full of sodium, carbohydrate, and yeah, calories. So I don't think it was JUST her eating organic... It was her unknowingly making smarter dietary choices. (Or maybe just trying to push the organic foods movement).

I don't know about organic, but I do know that not eating meat as your source of protein definately helps. Your body can digest beans, vegetables, and nuts faster and easier then meat.

Every State has a different organic law. I think Oregon was the first to past one. Before that food processors could through the label "organic" on anything. Usually organic means the amount a pestacides allowed, because organic does not mean pestacide free.

I think when people start going into an "organic" frame of mind they are just eatting less crap and that is how they loose weight. My guess is lots of fruits and veggies. No fast food or sodas.

If you are from California you may be intrested in this