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Pesticides, herbicides, artificial fertilizers, ripening agents, genetically modified grain, the use of radiation and other "conventional" methods improve crop yields. A far greater percentage of fruits or vegetables or beans survive until harvest, at which time the producer has more to sell, as measured by weight. Conventionally grown foods are artificially coddled, protected and babied. Their natural defenses may atrophy, as they're supplanted by artificial defenses. Contrary to nature, the weakest plants and fruits survive until harvest just like the strongest do. With organic foods, on the other hand, only the strong survive. An organic Apple for example, survived until harvest not because it was sprayed with man-made poison, but because it engaged in a battle against insects and plant disease using its natural defenses -- and emerged victorious. Conventionally grown foods are weak, and they pass their weakness on to the person who eats them. Organic foods are strong,...

Don't look now, but you're not alone. Inside your digestive system, trillions of microbes play a central role in your health. The vast majority of both cells and genes in your body, in fact, aren't human, but intestinal gut flora cells and genes present in the hundreds of species that have colonized different parts of your digestive tract. They are so numerous that they collectively weigh between between two and five pounds. (Note that a gallon of water weighs about 8.3 pounds.) These gut microbiota not only digest and process your food, they are the foundation of health. They manufacture hormones, biotin and vitamin K, suppress the growth of harmful bacteria and "train" the immune system, among many other tasks. You can upset the normal balance of intestinal microbes by eating processed food, taking antibiotics, experiencing stress, not drinking enough water and in other ways. The simple act of eating domesticated animal meat, for example, may trigger the gut ...