Should I Buy Organic Butters & Oils Instead Of Non-Organic Ones? What The Heck Does Organic Even Mean?!

If there is one topic that gets me really wound up, it's this one. People assume that "organic" means healthier or unrefined but it does not mean either one of those things.

Outside of chemistry "organic" means that a product was grown or farmed without the use of pesticides, herbicides or any other "artificial" "chemicals" - I also hate the word chemical because EVERYTHING is a chemical! 

Salt is sodium chloride, table sugar is sucrose; just because you know its "regular" name does not make it "not a chemical"! Infact, lots of chemicals that you don't think are not edible become edible once they have been neutralized with another chemical, anyway, I digress.

So exactly what is wrong with pesticides and herbicides?

Pesticides are chemicals designed to kill bugs and insects that might destroy a crop.

Herbicides are a special type of pesticide used to kill unwanted weeds. In the US, 70% of pesticides used are herbicides. 

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Pesticides (including herbicides) can lead to allergic reactions and other side effects if consumed in high amounts. However, just using an agricultural product that comes from a farm that uses herbicides or pesticides should not cause you any harm at all. 

Importantly, it's extremely hard to prove that pesticides were not used in the farming of a product especially if that product has changed hands several times over. 

If you are concerned about your products being organic then you should buy directly from the farmer. Even a trusted commercial supplier who labels something organic may have no idea if it really is. They just have to trust whoever supplies them!

Can a product be "organic" but still be refined.

Yes, and frequently it is. A vegetable butter for example may be refined to change its colour because the producer wants a specific colour for all butters of that kind. 

For example, the colour of shea butter will vary from one harvest to the next because natural products do that - they don't come out with the exact same colour and composition every time; things like weather (sun, rainfall, etc.) impact crop production. A manufacturer can completely remove the colour using heat (thereby killing vitamins and minerals) but that butter would still be organic because herbicides were not used in farming it.

If they replenish the butter with lots vitamins and minerals then perhaps that is okay but they might not do that.

Importantly, note that most products that are labelled organic are not 100% organic; only a percentage of ingredients need to be organic for a product to be legally allowed to have the label "organic".

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How About Dr Organic

That is just a brand name, the person behind the brand is not a doctor of any sort. Also, some of their ingredients are not organic. 

Their website says they simply try to source organic ingredients and where they can't source something organic they use they next best "natural" alternative. You know how I feel about the term "natural". Sorry to burst your bubble if you were in one. This is not to say this isn't a good brand - just that you shouldn't be blinded by brands and the look of things.

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And Organix Hair?

Not organic at all - just a brand name. Huh? Yeah, don't be mad, they never made a claim to be organic!

Refined vs. Unrefined vs. Organic

"Unrefined" is a better term to watch out for than organic. If something is refined you want to know how it was refined. Some refinement is useful, e.g. a butter that will be eaten may need to be refined to remove toxic elements that are naturally found in it.

I hope this helps you decide which products to buy and how not to be misled by clever marketing.

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• Neno Natural's DIY Hair Recipes
• What Does Natural Hair Mean? What Is A Natural Ingredient?!

Ref: Herbicide, drorganic.co.uk

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