Lately I have been asked by many people about whether buying organic is really worth it because of the recent report made by Stanford University scientists. To sum up their findings, in case you are not familiar, they stated that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts. Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by dangerous bacteria like E. coli. The researchers also found no obvious health advantages to organic meats. Conventional fruits and vegetables did have more pesticide residue, but the scientists claimed these levels were almost always under the allowed safety limits. There were however several differences that got overshadowed by these previous claims. These differences were that organic produce was much less likely to retain traces of pesticides and organic chicken and pork were less likely to be contaminated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The study also found that organic milk contained more omega-3 fatty acids, which are considered beneficial for the heart. This study was a meta-analysis that combined data from 237 studies, examining a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and meats. The one aspect of this study that I appreciate is that researchers did not use any outside financing for their research. The organic produce also contained more compounds known as phenols, believed to help prevent cancer, than conventional produce. Two points I found very interesting in this study were that they noted a couple of studies that showed that children who ate organic produce had fewer pesticide traces in their urine. The studies also identified pregnant women exposed to higher amounts of pesticides known as organophosphates had children that scored several points lower on an IQ test than their peers in elementary school. Even if organic foods have no greater health benefits, there are still environmental benefits. Organic farming practices are designed to benefit the environment by reducing pollution and conserving water and soil quality.
Bottom Line: If you can't afford organic food, I would much rather you buy conventionally grown fruits and vegetables then none at all and turning towards fast-food, but with the many generic brands now producing organic products, sometimes it is the same price or just a few cents more than its counterparts. I always have my freezer stocked with frozen organic fruits/vegetable because they are cheaper and you don't have to worry about them going bad.
Dirty Dozen Plus (foods to try to buy organic-higher rates of pesticides): apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches, strawberries, nectarines(imported), grapes. spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries(domestic), potatoes, kale, collards, leafy greens
Clean 15(foods that are less likely to have as many pesticides when conventionally grown): onions, sweet corn, pineapple, avocodos, cabbage, sweet peas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, cantaloupe(domestic), sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon, mushrooms
Bottom Line: If you can't afford organic food, I would much rather you buy conventionally grown fruits and vegetables then none at all and turning towards fast-food, but with the many generic brands now producing organic products, sometimes it is the same price or just a few cents more than its counterparts. I always have my freezer stocked with frozen organic fruits/vegetable because they are cheaper and you don't have to worry about them going bad.
Dirty Dozen Plus (foods to try to buy organic-higher rates of pesticides): apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches, strawberries, nectarines(imported), grapes. spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, blueberries(domestic), potatoes, kale, collards, leafy greens
Clean 15(foods that are less likely to have as many pesticides when conventionally grown): onions, sweet corn, pineapple, avocodos, cabbage, sweet peas, asparagus, mangoes, eggplant, kiwi, cantaloupe(domestic), sweet potatoes, grapefruit, watermelon, mushrooms
RSS Feed
