Studies have demonstrated small to moderate increases in some nutrients in organic products. Organic products may have more of certain antioxidants and types of flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties. Organic foods aren't healthier in and of themselves in terms of nutrients. You're still getting the same benefits from conventionally grown foods as from organic foods.
This makes any interpretation of the benefits or not of eating organic foods very difficult. Traditional foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, poultry, meat and eggs) and the health outcomes of eating these foods Not only does organic production help reduce public health risks, but there is increasing evidence that organically grown foods are rich in nutrients, such as vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and are less exposed to nitrates and pesticide residues in organically grown fruits, vegetables and cereals compared to conventionally grown products. Check out the Environmental Working Group's Clean Fifteen list of foods that can be bought normal and the Dirty Dozen list of foods you should spend more on to buy organic products. The researchers found very few differences in nutritional content, other than slightly higher levels of phosphorus in many organic foods and a higher content of omega-3 fatty acids in organic milk and chicken.
The main class of pesticides analyzed in the organic food literature reviewed for this article were organophosphates, whose metabolites can be measured in urine as markers of recent exposure. In general, the levels of pesticides in organic and non-organic foods were within the permitted safety limits. Several studies investigated the effect of replacing a single non-organic food or drink with its organic counterpart. Following their example with guilt, I can't help but wonder if organic food has as much of an impact on my family's health as it does on my wallet.
The consumption of organic foods is usually linked to healthier eating practices in general and to lower levels of overweight and obesity, which is likely to influence the results of observational research. It is possible that the observed benefit of organic intake is due in part to the quality and composition of the diet and not to a direct effect of eating organic foods. The benefits of organic diets may be associated only with long-term consumption or may be due to lifestyle factors or dietary patterns, which is much more difficult to model in prospective clinical trials. Specifically, long-term whole-food substitution studies, using certified organic interventions, will provide the most reliable evidence to answer the question of whether an organic diet provides real and measurable health benefits.
One of the main benefits proposed for organic foods is the reduction of exposure to chemicals such as pesticides.
