But now a lot of humans are living long enough to experience the cumulative effects of many substances which people who lived to 60 years on average would write off as natural consequences of aging.
Well, considering as those people were eating all-natural organic foods, it does raise the question why all-natural snake oil has gotten so popular nowadays. (And the push towards processed foods in the last century was brought about in response to the unsanitary conditions what would now be called "organic" foods were collected and stored in.)
Generally speaking, I do prefer organic... because it tends to also be preservative free, and I am allergic to many preservatives. Also a number of dyes and some other things which it is rather inconvenient to be allergic to. I can handle it, but if I overindulge in foods containing them long enough, I end up with a skin reaction. So I tend to prefer keeping my normal diet relatively simple so that when the chance comes, I can indulge.
That being said, there is reason to use organic produce and products, if one is being conscious of the impact of farming on the environment (depending on the practices used, organic farming can be easier on the soil at the very least, and have less impact on the local ecosystem). Of course, if you are taking that much interest in where your food comes from, you should probably consider growing some of your own or buying locally sourced food (I.E., farmer's market), should circumstances permit it. That way, you actually know or have the opportunity to know those details. I get the impression many people confuse "organic" with "traditional family farm" when that really isn't the case.
All natural labeling is a genuine load of crock though. You can slap it on just about anything. At least "organic" labeling means it has to meet USDA standards here in the States.
There's nothing wrong with avoiding ingredients that you know are bad for you, of course, nor trying to get things with proven negative consequences for health (like carcinogen food dyes or preservatives) removed from foods.
The problem I have is when people just assume something is bad for you based upon nothing but a complicated name, the mere fact it was processed at all, or pseudoscience like "water memory". (For example, those pranks involving starting petitions to ban dihydrogen monoxide, especially as it is often fatal if inhaled, and causes billions of dollars of corrosion - especially to iron - every year. Or, for that matter, Canadian lemonade being banned from American schools for complying with laws governing honest labeling and saying that the bottles contained inconsequential amounts of alcohol from the bottle sanitizing process even though the American lemonade companies that weren't banned used the same process and simply weren't subject to the same labeling laws...)
This leads to completely misaimed and wasted efforts, like fighting over trying to replace high fructose corn syrup with "real sugar" that is supposedly healthier, when the real problem isn't that high fructose corn syrup is different from cane sugar, but that it's functionally the same (the best scientific evidence offered against high fructose corn syrup are inconclusive studies about minor tendencies towards habit-forming that wouldn't be worth the wasted effort even if completely confirmed), and the real problem is simply too much sugar in all our foods. Drinking pure cane sugar soda fructose is just as bad for your liver as corn syrup fructose.
Just Like A Flash In The PanThat has absolutely nothing to do with fads.Hearing that, don't you think that Ramune is that much more fearsome, Ginka?Even during periods when it isn't popular, we still eat it in an unexpected form.TapiocaA use forReally!?Ah, but if there wasn't the fad, tapioca wouldn't sell.But Morinaga Ramune is made with glucose, milk calcium and tapioca starch.For a long time, cheap candy Ramune has typically been made from potato starch, glucose, and citric acid...It's different in terms of sourness....Why are you suddenly talking about Ramune?There's Morinaga Ramune.No, that's not true.Deja VuYeah that.Like those idiots who buy Bikkuriman just for the stickers and don't eat it?And what about these guys who toss it out without drinking them!?It feels like something's rising in my throat.I'm not mad, it's just annoying when even this triggers deja vu.Eh, Nee-san, were you the type of person who gets angry over that?Maybe some day, aloe vera and nata de coco will become popular again~I've heard that fads will cyclically come back after many years.Yeah, it was a fad.Bubble tea was a fad before too, wasn't it?About 10 or 20 years ago.Ah...