An increasing number of consumers, and especially those who are victims of chronic diseases, are switching to organic food. A key incentive for such consumers is the direct belief that it is healthier for them. But is it true that there are health benefits to eating organic food?
Official food agencies around the world are indisputable in stating that there is no evidence of a dietary difference. However, a more cautious and thorough review of the science evaluating organic and non-organic foods reveals that, taken together, the available data supports consumer belief and claims by the organic industry that their foods are safer, more nutritious and better for everyone. than inorganic foods.
It is often claimed that a large number of studies have found no distinction in the nutritive substance of organic and non-organic crops. It is true that there have been countless studies comparing the nutrient content of organic and inorganic foods and the results are open to doubt. But this is because most of these studies are substandard, either agriculturally or critically flawed.
Using a lucid validity criterion to ensure that related nutrients were being compared in correctly matched organic and non-organic crops, 72% of the comparisons were deemed unacceptable. The results of these falsified studies were theatrical, uncertain, insignificant, or not in agreement, unsurprisingly, and only served to complicate the clear trend in legitimate data that organic crops, on average, contain higher levels of trace minerals. , vitamin C and antioxidant phytonutrients.
Official food composition data, including data accumulated by the US Department of Agriculture, reveal that since the 1940s mineral levels in fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy have dropped significantly in conventional foods. Combine this with pre-harvesting (pre-ripening), prolonged storage, and further processing of crops, and it’s not surprising that we may be consuming fewer nutrients in our food now than 60 years ago.
The unnatural fertilization linked to conventional crops creates abundant growth by bulking the produce with more water. On a pound-for-pound basis, organic foods have additional “dry matter” (ie food). Partly because of this and for other reasons as well, there are higher levels of nutrients in organic produce. Research by American nutritionist Virginia Worthington has established that, based on current dietary patterns, dissimilarity may be enough to help you achieve suggested daily amounts of certain nutrients that you would not otherwise get.
In addition, we can also expect that phytonutrients, many of which are antioxidants occupied in the plant protection system itself, will be superior in organic products since crops depend more on their own defenses against the deficiency of the usual applications of chemical pesticides. There is emerging evidence to support this expectation. Higher levels of lycopene have been established so far in organic tomatoes, polyphenols in organic potatoes, flavanols in organic apples, and resveratrol in organic red wine. A new review of the topic predicted that organic products will tend to contain between 10 and 50% more phytonutrients than conventional products.
Eating more organic foods is certainly not the only way to increase your nutrient intake, but it may be the safest. Frequently the majority of the food industry claims that pesticide residues in food are recognized as out of harm’s way based on general dietary surveys that purportedly find pesticide residue levels in our food to be very low and within tolerable security restrictions. . But monitoring programs time and time again show that about one in three non-organic food samples tested contains a variety of pesticide residues, and much lower levels are found in and on organic products. Proponents of conventional foods also state that a comprehensive safety assessment shows that pesticide residues do not pose a danger to human health. However, consumers without asking know that this is a false promise.
Most pesticide residue safety levels are set for individual pesticides, but many new product samples contain multiple pesticide residues. The systems often do not take into account the explanation of the “cocktail effect” of the mixture of pesticides in and on food. Research is increasing and verifying the possibility of such synergistic amplification in toxicity of up to 100 times, resulting in unpredictable reproductive, immune and nervous system effects from the individual compounds acting alone.
Israeli researchers have linked symptoms such as headaches, tremors, lack of energy, depression, anxiety, poor memory, dermatitis, seizures, nausea, indigestion, and diarrhea with dietary intakes of pesticides. Belgian research has found that women tested with breast cancer are six to nine times more likely to have pesticides DDT or hexachlorobenzene in their bloodstream than women who did not have breast cancer. Hawaiian researchers who followed 8,000 people for 34 years found that greater use than ever of conventional fruits and juices (and the pesticide residues they contain) increases the danger of Parkinson’s disease.
There is one more reason for you to go organic now.