I have a passion for produce - so can somebody do me a favor and point me toward the good
stuff?
Hey everyone, Laci Green here for DNews.
Over the past 5 years or so you may have noticed the organic produce section slowly getting
bigger and bigger.
Organic basically means that the produce was grown old-school style.
They aren’t using fertilizers to control weeds or pesticides to ward off insects - they
use natural (non-chemical) means that promote water and soil conservation while creating
less pollution.
Conventional methods use all that stuff and thus are able to grow a lot more food a lot
more quickly.
While organic and conventional produce look pretty much the same, organic is often more
expensive.
SO...the question is….what are you paying for and is it worth the dollas?
At the end of the day, the answer to that question comes down to personal priorities
and budget, but here’s a rundown of what the studies say.
A controversial study that came out of Stanford in 2012 found that there was no significant
nutritional difference between organic and conventional produce.
The scientists hand-selected 237 studies to analyze and found a few key outcomes: (1)
No difference in vitamin, protein, or fat content, (2) no evidence of health risks with
conventional produce, but (3) conventional produce has a 30% increased risk of pesticide
contamination.
They also found that children who eat conventional produce have more pesticide residues in their
pee and exposure to higher levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The study was WIDELY criticized by the scientific community for using faulty methods and leaving
several really important studies about nutritional content out of their analysis.
Fast forward to 2014, and the British Journal of Nutrition has just released the largest
international analysis ever, covering 343 studies on organic produce.
Their findings tell a slightly different story.
The researchers found that organic produce IS more nutritious -- and that it contains
up to 70% more antioxidants than conventionally grown produce.
They found that chemical fertilizers, which allow vegetables to grow bigger and faster
with little effort, don’t allow for proportional antioxidant development - so even though the
veggies are bigger, the health benefits are not the same.
Antioxidants are developed as the vegetable fights to survive and grow, so if they’re
protected by chemicals, you get a different result.
The review also found that conventional produce has more pesticides (duh), and up to 48% more
exposure to the toxic metal cadmium.
I’ve done a lot of personal research on this topic and it seems to me that organic
has lots of health benefits and the widespread use of antibiotics, pesticides, and chemical
fertilizers is very questionable.
But conventional produce is still MUCH better than no produce at all and you’re not on
the fast track to death by eating it.
If you’re on a budget and need to be choosy, prioritize the fruits and veggies where you
eat the skin.
Apples are a big one, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, and so forth.
Let me know what you think about eating organic down below and I’ll see you soon with more
science updates!