Organic fruits, vegetables and meats may help limit pesticide residue exposure; however, studies are conflicted on whether organic food is healthier overall.
Diving into the information on organic health foods can be overwhelming. A registered dietitian can assist in sorting through all of its advantages and disadvantages, offering helpful guidelines when shopping for organic produce:
Reduced Risk of Cancer
Organic food offers many compelling benefits, one being reduced exposure to pesticides linked to certain forms of cancer. According to JAMA Internal Medicine research, people who ate organic fruits, vegetables and meats had a 25% reduced risk of certain cancers than those who did not consume organic produce or meats.
Ohio State University registered dietitian Candice Schreiber cautions that the results from this particular study should be interpreted carefully, given its dependence on self-reported data from participants through food frequency questionnaires – which can lead to measurement errors and residual confounding effects.
Furthermore, this research only examined the correlation between organic food consumption and certain cancers and some lifestyle, family history or genetic risk factors; not analysing whether other aspects that may impact cancer risk, such as lifestyle or genetics could also have an influence.
Lower Risk of Obesity
Organic health foods contain dense fibre that helps keep you fuller for longer, thereby helping prevent overeating. Furthermore, these organic options contain more antioxidants that boost enzyme activity and accelerate fat burning more effectively in your body.
Studies indicate that people who consume a higher proportion of organic food tend to experience reduced rates of obesity and cardiometabolic illnesses such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Organic diets have also been associated with fewer instances of preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.
However, it should be borne in mind that results of these studies must be taken with great caution due to limitations in study designs and self-reported frequency of organic food consumption. Further controlled clinical trials must take place to substantiate these findings. Moreover, organic health foods tend to contain less harmful pesticides linked to disease, cancer, infertility and neurodevelopmental disorders than nonorganic products.
Lower Risk of Heart Disease
Organic foods typically offer more heart-healthy nutrients than their conventional counterparts, including folates, vitamin C, potassium, iron and zinc as well as beneficial monounsaturated fatty acids.
Organic foods are less likely to contain pesticides. According to one recent study, researchers discovered that those who consumed more organic produce had reduced risks of cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Each increase in consumption resulted in a 6% reduction of ASCVD risk.
Organic meat and dairy products tend to contain lower concentrations of saturated fatty acids than their conventional counterparts, are free from growth hormones, antibiotics, and sewage sludge – often found in conventional farming – which could potentially decrease your risk of nutrient deficiencies such as iron deficiency from industrial-scale farming practices.
Lower Risk of Diabetes
Organic foods are great for your health as well as helping the environment by limiting synthetic pesticide usage that harm pollinators populations, alter water quality and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Furthermore, choosing organic reduces your risk for chronic illnesses like diabetes.
Scientists analyzed data from over 33,000 individuals participating in NutriNet-Sante’s longitudinal study over four years and found that people who regularly purchase organic food have lower rates of type 2 diabetes. Researchers assessed how often and how frequently participants purchased these organic items as well as adjust for potential confounding factors such as family income, education level, weight, smoking habits and physical activity levels.
Lower Risk of Birth Defects
Organic foods may help lower the risk of birth defects by limiting exposure to pesticides present on conventional produce and by eliminating antibiotic use on farm animals that could result in resistant bacteria spreading to humans.
Study findings regarding Norwegian mothers revealed that frequent organic food consumers had lower rates of hypospadias and cryptorchidism at birth. Furthermore, organic fruits, vegetables and meat consumption during gestation significantly lowered preeclampsia risks for mother and fetus alike.
Studies have also demonstrated that people who consume predominantly organic diets tend to have healthier blood profiles, including higher levels of heart-protecting omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants than those who don’t – though such studies tend to be observational, so their findings could be affected by numerous variables.
