Grass-Fed, Free-Range, All-Natural: What Do These Labels Really Mean?

Real talk: Who else is confused about what to buy at the grocery store? With so many different labels found on food packages, from grass-fed, organic and free-range, to cage-free, pasture-raised and all-natural, grocery shopping can be so overwhelming.  

What do these labels mean? Which labels should we be looking for? Which labels matter and which don’t? Navigating labels makes figuring out what to buy at the grocery store so confusing. Should you pay extra for grass-fed? Is free-range better than cage-free? Do you want all-natural or organic?  

If you haven’t listened to episode 121: Exactly What to Buy at the Grocery Store with Kevin Curry, he decoded many food labels for us, including high-protein, low-fat, gluten-free, and many more. I know how helpful this episode was for many of you and that’s why I decided to expand on the topic and explain more food labels I didn’t have a chance to discuss with Kevin.  

In this episode of Coffee & Kettlebells, I decode organic, all-natural, grass-fed, cage-free, free-range, hormone-free, pasture-raised and vegetarian.  

Here is a sneak peek into this episode of Coffee & Kettlebells… 

What Organic Means… 

Organic means free of pesticides, GMOs or antibiotics.  

This is important because both pesticides and antibiotics wreak havoc on your gut. When you eat conventional foods, these pesticides and antibiotics will build and build in your body. They kill the good bacteria in your gut and fuel the bad bacteria.  

When you have more bad bacteria than good, it leads to inflammation, which can lead to weight gain and many other health issues. If you want to learn more about gut health and why it’s so important for your overall health and weight loss, you’ll want to listen to episode 131 with Dr. Will Cole and to learn more about the effect antibiotics have on your gut, I highly recommend listening to episode 119 with Dr. Marvin Singh. 

What All-Natural Means 

Something extremely important to understand is that organic and natural are not the same. The US Food and Drug Administration does not have an exact definition of what “natural” means. And, while organic foods are heavily regulated, natural foods are not. With that being said, they do have an unofficial policy that foods labeled as natural shouldn’t contain any artificial ingredients, like artificial colors, sweeteners, preservatives and additives, but it’s not actually regulated. So “all-natural” food products can still contain GMOs, synthetic chemicals and hormones. 

Learn more! 

Loved this information and want to learn about more food labels, including grass-fed, pasture-raised, free-range, cage-free and hormone-free? Tune into the full episode of Coffee & Kettlebells:  

132: Grass-fed, Free-Range, All-Natural: What Do These Labels Really Mean? Why is this not a link? 


Up next: 

Episode 121: Exactly What to Buy at the Grocery Store with Kevin Curry 

Episode 18: Does Organic Really Matter and How to Start Juicing with Kat Eckles Instagram: @morgan.a.kline

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