Editor's Note: If you are a regular buyer of organic food, you know how expensive it is. Have you ever wondered if the added expense is worth it? In other words, have you ever wondered if you're actually getting any additional health benefits buying organic food? Tom Venuto tackles this issue in this article.

Dear Tom,

Hey Tom, in your opinion do you think it's worth paying the extra money for grass fed beef and free range or organic chicken? I've read some good things about it, but it's so expensive. Does it really make any difference on your fat loss program?

Fred R.

I know what you mean about the cost of grass fed beef. The same thing is true of organic food.

I mentioned "organic food" to a friend of mine last week, and he asked, "Do you mean like what you get at Whole Foods?"

I said, "Yes, exactly - that's a natural food and organic supermarket."

He said, "yeah well, that place costs so much, I call it Whole Paycheck!"

I was cracking up, but the truth is, organic food really is expensive and so is grass fed beef and free range chicken, so it's a valid question to ask.

Look at it this way - if you put the cheapest fuel in your luxury car, how well is it going to run and how many miles are you going to get out of it?

While I'm on car analogies, health author and educator, Paul Chek, once noted how ridiculous it is to watch how many $75,000 + cars pull up to the McDonald's or Burger King drive through window to buy $1.99 hamburgers.

I would say that's a serious case of having priorities screwed up, wouldn't you? The driver has no problem shelling out the $1,100 monthly car payment, but it's too much to ask him to put premium fuel into his own "bodily vehicle."

How can you put ANY price tag on your body and your health? You can buy another car, but you've only got one body.

As for the grass fed beef and organic free range chicken...

For best results in body composition improvement, which I define as burning fat and or building muscle, (and, I'll even go as far as to say for optimal health as well), I am a believer in including animal proteins, including lean meats.

I have no wish to take up the vegetarian debate in this column; I respect vegetarians and acknowledge that a healthy and lean body can be developed with a vegetarian diet if it is done properly, although it may be more challenging to gain muscle for various reasons, for strict vegans.

However, in recommending animal protein as part of a healthy fat loss and muscle building nutrition program, I do agree that we all need to give some serious thought to what is in our meat (not to mention, the rest of our food).

I also think we should consider what is *missing* from our commercially grown food, that is supposed to be in there, but may not be.

A lot of people are not paying attention to this - even people who should know better.

For example, I am not your typical "health and wellness" or "weight loss" expert. I am also a competitive bodybuilder. We bodybuilders are well known for eating very clean diets with lots of lean protein and natural carbs, as well as for looking like "the picture of health" with our ripped abs and impressive muscularity.

We eat our oatmeal and egg whites for breakfast, and proudly walk around with our chicken breast, rice and broccoli or our flank steak, yams and asparagus, and boast about how perfect and clean our meals are and how our diets could not be improved.

But how many bodybuilders or fitness enthusiasts are there - even serious, dedicated and educated ones - who don't give a single thought to the poisonous chemicals that might be lurking in our supposedly "clean" food?

The Food and Drug Administration lists more than 3,000 chemicals that can be added to our food supply.

1 billion pounds of pesticides and agro-farming chemicals are used on our crops every year.

Depending on what source you quote, the average American consumes as much as 150 pounds of chemicals and food additives per year.

Does ANYBODY out there think that this is good for you?

Didn't think so.

If you had a way to avoid all these chemicals and toxins, would you at least explore it, even if it cost a little more?

Although this topic is controversial and hotly debated, organic food is gaining in popularity and seems to fit this bill.

Food grown on certified organic farms does does not contain:

Pesticides
Herbicides
Fungicides
Hormones
Antibiotics
Chemical fertilizers

It is also not:

Irradiated
Genetically Modified

Beyond the "certified organic" label, grass fed beef and free range chicken (and eggs), have other advantages.

Not only can there be tons of antibiotics, hormones, and other chemicals in our meat, commercially raised beef is also fed grain or corn and yet that is not what the animals were meant to eat.

The result - aside from sick, drugged animals - is a higher overall fat, higher saturated fat and a screwed up ratio of omega three to omega six fats, which is a very big problem today - even when you think you're eating "clean."

Last but not least, proponents of organic food suggest that the vitamin, mineral and phytonutrient content of commercially grown foods can be anywhere from a little bit low to virtually absent.

So... IF organic and or grass fed beef and free range chicken can help us avoid some of these problems and dangers, then I'm all for it and the extra investment.

I started eating grass fed beef almost exclusively (except for my occasional restaurant steak), quite a few years ago, and I even mentioned it in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

I can't say I eat entirely organic - yet - if I'm eating an apple or some blueberries, and it doesn't happen to be organic, I don't freak out over it. When you really study deeply into the subject of food processing, industrial pollution and commercial farming, it can almost scare you half to death, but I don't recommend getting "alarmist" about it. Sometimes it's the people who live in fear of disease who are most likely to get it.

However, the more I study this subject - from a variety of sources and perspectives - the more the organic argument makes sense to me.

Honestly, I can't say I noticed any dramatic change in my physique or in the way I feel...yet... I've been a successful bodybuilder for many years before I started eating more organic food and grass fed beef.

However, I feel confident about my decision to spend the extra money on grass fed beef, free range chicken and a decent amount of organic food, knowing that I am avoiding toxins and getting more of the nutritional value I need to support my training and my health.

I'm certain this is the type of nutritional lifestyle change that will accrue benefits over the long term, even if you don't see an immediate "transformation."

One thing I would suggest before running out for organic fruits and vegetables or grass fed beef and so on, is consider what kind of shape your diet and your lifestyle are in right now.

If your diet is currently such a total mess that you're drinking alcohol, smoking, abusing coffee and stimulants, not even eating ANY fruits and vegetables to begin with...and if your idea of protein is processed lunch meat you get at subway, then I think it might be a little moot to worry about whether your fruits and veggies are 100% certified organic or whether your beef is grass fed. Just start cleaning up your diet and establishing new healthy habits, one step at a time.

There are some very strong opinions on this subject, I am aware of that, and I'm not going to stand up on a pulpit either way.

What I have done here is simply share what I have found from my own research and what I have decided to do in my own personal health and bodybuilding regimen. We'll see how it pans out as I continue my competitive bodybuilding trek through the rest of my 30's, into my 40's and beyond.

My advice is: EVERYONE should continuously seek ways to improve their nutrition above the level it is at now, and to become educated about what is really in your food.

Then make your own educated decision about the type of fuel you put in your body.

Read other articles by Tom Venuto

About the Author

Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, lifetime natural bodybuilder, certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best selling diet e-book, "Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle." Tom has written hundreds of articles and has been featured in IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men's Exercise. To contact Tom or get information on his e-book, visit www.BurnTheFat.com