Study Finds Organic Foods are More Healthy
The French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA) released a study last week that outlines a number of health benefits to eating organic food.
This comes on the heels of a UK study that said just the opposite. According to the AFSSA study, organic foods are not only more nutritious, but they’re safer. Here are the study’s main findings:
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- Organic fruits and veggies contain more iron, magnesium, antioxidants and micronutrients.
- Organic animal products are higher in heart-healthy polyunsaturated fatty acids, and cows raised on grass have a higher muscle mass, which means leaner meat.
- They didn’t make a call on organic carbohydrates, such as cereals, because there wasn’t enough data. However, they noted that organic barley is higher in calcium, zinc, and copper.
- This was the most interesting finding, in my opinion: “94–100% of organic food does not contain any pesticide residues.” This is huge. Not only are pesticides hard on the environment, certain pesticides are linked to cancer and other health issues.
- Organic vegetables contain far fewer nitrates - about 50% fewer. Nitrates are nasty business. Dr Suzanne de la Monte of Rhode Island Hospital recently released results linking nitrates to health problems such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
It’s interesting that two studies with such contradictory results would come out around the same time. The AFSSA findings about pesticide residues and nitrates alone are really enough to convince me that organics are the smarter choice. From what I’ve read, the UK study didn’t address food safety, only nutritional content. What do you guys think - does any of this make you more or less likely to grab the organic option next time you’re in the produce aisle?
Image Credit:Carrots and Eggplants. Creative Commons photo by jdickert
I can taste the difference, especially with berries, organic strawberries and raspberries really tend to taste better. Same goes for spinach and many other organic greens + fruits.
I can’t find the original article. How much higher were the nutrients in the organic food? Enough to matter? I’d be surprised if many people who live in the developed world (or eat meat) would be deficient in any of the elemental nutrients to begin with…
Ack! Sorry about that, Matt! I didn’t realize I hadn’t linked to it. Here’s the original study (pdf link).
I’ll add it to the post, too. Thanks for letting me know!
I think the issue of organic vs non organic often comes down to money - it’s expensive to buy all organic foods, even if you know for a fact that they are better for you. I would love to see a real effort towards making organic farming a) the norm and b) more affordable for people on a budget. (and I mean real budget, like “I have $20 to spend on food that will last me for the week or I will starve” not “Man I really need to cut back on spending”. I tend towards the latter, so it is easier for me.)
Case in point, I needed two eggs for a recipe - at the store, 6 conventional eggs were 69 cents. 6 organic eggs cost $2.79. That’s a hard price to swallow if $2.79 represents a significant percentage of your food budget.
We buy as much organic as we can afford, not only because it tastes better, and may have even slightly more nutrients, but more importantly, because the impact on the enviornment is so much less.
Good to hear that! I agree with Liz, for me it’s mostly about the extra cost for organic food. For our kids I try to buy as much organic as possible, especially heavily sprayed food like berries. It’s just hard to pay so much extra money. Hopefully, in the future it will become more affordable.
Nowadays wherever there is a Trader Joes there is affordable organic produce, juices, eggs, and all at low prices, TJ’s is a gem!
Next to being more healthy, organic foods are very often also more tasty. Most importantly, the impact on the environment is a lot lower and that is something that we have to think about. Everybody should.
For more information on the environment, have a look at this Green News.