Organic foods prove more nutritious

[Blackbear]

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Posted on Tue, Jan 15, 2008


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Organic foods prove more nutritious

By Pam Baxter

The debate over the benefits of organically grown produce has been going on
for a long time, but for those who believe that eating organic is more
healthy, there was some supporting news out of Britain recently.
A study carried out by Professor Carlo Leifert, at the Tesco Centre for
Organic Agriculture at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, has found that
food grown organically — particularly fruits, vegetables and milk — are
more nutritious than those produced by conventional methods.
How much more nutritious? According to the four-year study, the organic
foods contained up to more than 40 percent more antioxidants than non-organic.
Leifert said the difference is equivalent to eating an additional serving of
fruits and vegetables each day, and could reduce the risk of cancer and heart
disease. The study also found high levels of minerals such as iron and zinc in
organic produce.
With milk, the advantage increases, with organic milk providing up to 60
percent more antioxidants, as well as more of the healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

In addition, researchers found less of the bad fats. As Leifert put it, “We
have shown there are more of certain nutritionally desirable compounds and
less of the baddies in organic foods.”
The results of the study support a 10-year study by the University of
California comparing organic tomatoes with those grown conventionally. This study
found twice the level of flavonoids, an antioxidant linked to the reduction of
the risk of heart disease.
Up to now, the advice from Britain’s Food Standards Agency has essentially
been, “Consumers may choose to buy organic food because they believe that it
is safer and more nutritious than other food; however, the balance of current
scientific evidence does not support this view.”
This sounds pretty much like the standard advice I’ve heard on this side of
the Atlantic: By all means eat organic if you think it’s better for you, but
there really is no difference. It’s encouraging that science is finally
producing evidence that supports what I and many others have long believed
intuitively: The healthiest foods for our bodies are the ones produced nature’s way.
The produce for Leifert’s study and the cows that produced the milk were
raised on Newcastle University’s 725-acre farm in Northumberland. The organic
crops were grown alongside conventional crops.
My main question is one that Leifert is already looking ahead on: What is
the reason for the difference in the nutritional content of the organic and
conventionally raised foods? Why do organic methods produce a higher nutritional
content and less of the bad stuff? Leifert also wants to answer the question
of why there is so much variability with respect to the differences.
I imagine that the soil will end up being the main factor: Enriching soil
with organic matter provides not just the basic nutrients but micronutrients as
well. Organic matter supports micro-organisms that are involved in nutrient
uptake. And perhaps something in pesticides and herbicides themselves affects
a plant’s ability to absorb nutrients. Perhaps the chemicals have “side
effects” in plants that hinder nutrient absorption.
I’ll be interested to see what answers emerge.
Pam Baxter is an avid organic vegetable gardener who lives in Kimberton. She
is newsletter editor of the Valley Forge Audubon Society and the Green
Valleys Association. Direct e-mail to _pcbaster@comcast.net_
(mailto:pcbaxter@comcast.net,) or send mail to P.O. Box 80, Kimberton, PA 19442.

[Sekon]

Didn't they just release the news that organically grown food was pretty much the same as non-organically grown food? Hehe

[Blackbear]

Well I can't see why it would be any more healthy unless you don't wash it first... the only difference between the two really is one uses pesticides and the other does'nt... but I guess people believe that pesticides grow into the food or something....