Healthier eating with organic chicken
Physical wellness is an important aspect of the overall wellness journey. In a Bali wellness retreat, you can find detoxifying diets and organic chicken food sources that support clean, healthy, and nutritious eating that contribute to overall wellness.
From the different facets of wellness, physical wellness is one of the cornerstones of overall health and wellbeing. With a strong body, you are able to attend to all other areas of your life—social, spiritual, mental, and all other aspects of your life.
Nourishing the body through proper diet and exercise are essential, there’s no question about that. In recent years, the conversation around food choices not only focuses on health, but has increasingly focused on the importance of knowing where our food comes from and how it is produced.
People have been looking into organic and conventionally raised poultry, and how the choice between the two has been a significant factor in promoting physical well-being. Organic chicken, such as that produced at Bodhi’s Farm, is a healthier alternative to industrially produced poultry, both for the consumer and the environment. Organic chicken products are the only products used at The Bodhi Leaf Wellness, especially in their Diet Detox Retreat.
What’s the difference?
Industrial chickens, also known as broilers, take much faster time to grow, typically raised to reach market weight very quickly, often within 6 to 7 weeks. This growth is unnatural as it is achieved through high-energy feeds and the use of growth-promoting hormones, as well as synthetic antibiotics that are used to fight off infections and diseases brought by unsanitary and unconducive living conditions in industrial chicken farms.
Typical chicken feed found in industrial farms consist of corn and soybean meal, animal byproducts, additives, and hormones. This is the food that fuels industrial chickens, and in turn, the store-bought broiler chicken that is served to you and your loved ones.
Meanwhile, traditional or organic chickens may take longer to reach market size, often growing at a more natural pace, typically taking 8 to 12 weeks or more. Farming practices at Bodhi’s Farm include the use of natural probiotics such as Jamu (a traditional herbal drink in Indonesia with bark, roots, herbs) as well as consumption of BSF (Black Soldier Fly), naturally cultivated in their Plaga, Bali farm using organic waste collected from The Floating Leaf and The Bodhi Leaf Wellness properties, and other restaurants around Bali.
This extended growth period in organic or free-range chickens makes them a healthier choice with natural methods of growth and development, which often results in better meat quality, free from antibiotic residues and growth-promoting additives.
What’s wrong with Industrial Poultry
The industrial poultry industry is known for its use of antibiotics, which are administered to chickens to promote faster growth and prevent diseases. Diseases can be quite prevalent in industrial chicken farm due to severe living conditions. A typical industrial grown chicken live in a space smaller than an A4 piece of paper with barely any space for them to move.
A survey done by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Indonesia, together with the Ministry of Agriculture found that 80% of chicken farmers use antibiotics for prevention (prophylaxis). The survey showed that chicken farmers in Indonesia regularly use antibiotics to prevent disease and boost their production. (Article link: https://www.fao.org/indonesia/news/detail-events/ar/c/1137774/)
The problem with consuming industrial grown chicken is that antibiotic-resistant bacteria can spread from animals to humans through various ways, including the consumption of contaminated meat. This can be extremely harmful especially when consumers come in contact with contaminated chicken. And since industrial chickens are doused with antibiotics, this complicates the treatment of bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics, leading to longer illness durations and increased medical costs.
What you eat, eat matters
The human body is a complex mechanism that allows us to live and experience life to the fullest. Without a healthy body, all other forms of wellness will be affected—a weak body affects mental, social and sometimes, even spiritual wellness.
Knowing what your food eats is important because this is what fuels your body to live. Studies have shown that the quality of food has significantly decreased, with intensive farming practices that includes the use of chemicals to boost production and with cost consideration of industrial food producers, prioritizing high yields over food nutrition and quality.
Industrial grown chicken poses a slow and steady harm to our health, plain and simple. You think your store-bought chicken breast is healthy for you so you eat it every single day? You put it in your salad or grill it to reach your protein intake goals. Little do you know that consuming industrial grown chicken causes inflammation and over production of estrogen due to the chemicals found in them. Most women nowadays suffer from hormone-related diseases such as endometriosis and PCOS—which is aggravated through food choices.
Industrial grown chickens consume low levels of antibiotics consistently, which then become a breeding ground for antibiotic resistant bacteria, things that can cause infections that are impossible or hard to treat. These bacteria transfer to you, to us humans when eaten.
A strong body can achieve more—with every choice, you live longer and healthier.
If you want to kickstart your health journey starting with your physical wellness, join the Heal and Replenish Getaway retreat, where delicious and nutritious food is served, directly from Bodhi’s Farm, the authentic grower of organic chicken in Bali. Find detoxifying and cleansing recipes from certified wellness chefs, matched with treatments from the spa that will amplify your physical healing journey. This 4-day retreat focuses on YOU—the physical and also the spiritual, with healing and purification practices that helps you connect within and around you.
