Organic Foods Can Prevent 1 In 4 Cancers

To produce organic food , synthetic pesticides and fertilizers cannot be used, nor most of the additives found in conventional products. Nor can they be transgenic. These restrictions have an obvious meaning for producers and buyers: to get healthier food and to do it with respect for the environment.

The health benefits of organic food have been confirmed in recent studies published in leading scientific journals. These investigations have been carried out with public funding in French universities and state research centers based on the data collected in the NutriNet-Santé studies, which relate the eating habits to the health of thousands of people in the neighboring country. And these investigations have been carried out by independent scientists without any economic interest in organic production.

People who consume more organic foods reduce their risk by 25%

The first of the studies (1), carried out by researchers from the Universities of the Sorbonne, Paris 13 and several leading French scientific institutions, found that fewer pesticides are found in the urine of people who eat organic foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. , which have detrimental effects on metabolism and the nervous and hormonal systems. The research was published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology.

The advantages of having fewer pesticides in the body were clearly reflected in a second study (2), published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which was the first to investigate the association between organic food consumption and cancer risk. The results showed that people who eat more organic foods reduce their risk of developing cancer by an average of 25%, especially postmenopausal breast cancer (34% less) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (76% less).

The research was carried out by a research team led by the Sorbonne epidemiologist Julia Baudry with 68,946 volunteers, whose eating habits and health were followed for seven years. In this period, 1,340 new cancer cases were registered and validated in the group. The researchers made the necessary adjustments to discriminate against other factors that might influence the results, such as income or education level. The conclusion was that organic foods effectively protect against cancer.

The carcinogenic effect of pesticides in low doses is confirmed

The study findings are consistent with what we know about pesticides and cancer. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report that revealed the link between endocrine disrupting pesticides, which mimic the function of female hormones (estrogens) in the body, and cancer.

In addition, three of the herbicides and pesticides most used in conventional agriculture – glyphosate, malathion and diazinon – are classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, under the WHO. The three pesticides, by the way, are associated with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which is reduced the most with a higher consumption of organic foods.

Organic food prevents metabolic syndrome

Organic food not only prevents cancer. A third study (3) – published in the European Journal of Nutrition – concluded that the higher the consumption of organic food, the lower the risk of metabolic syndrome. In this disorder, alterations such as insulin resistance, excess abdominal fat, high blood pressure and chronic stress converge, factors that increase the risk of suffering type 2 diabetes and death from cardiovascular disease. Previous scientific work had linked pesticides in food to obesity and diabetes.

Organic foods prevent these conditions, but it is precisely the people who already suffer from them who benefit the most from starting to consume them. According to the study authors, it is especially convenient for people with overweight and metabolic disorders to choose organic foods because they are more sensitive to the effect of pesticides. The researchers emphasize that the properties of organic food can be reinforced with other healthy habits, such as choosing the right composition of the menus from the nutritional point of view, exercising or not smoking.

The fourth French study is the logical culmination of the previous three. The work, published in Preventive Medicine Reports, found that people who eat more organic foods have a higher level of general well-being and satisfaction with their life. These are the latest research, published in 2018, but previous ones had already reflected the properties and positive effects of organic food.

Organic products contain more antioxidants

Researchers have argued over the years whether organic foods provide more nutrients or not. If so, their properties are not only due to what they do not contain –toxic pesticides– but to the healthy compounds that they can offer in a greater proportion than a conventional food. Determining it is difficult because the nutritional content of each sample of a food does not depend only on whether organic production methods have been used, but on many factors such as the time of harvest, the composition of the soil or the climate.

The PhD in agronomic engineering María Dolores Raigón, from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, explains that organic foods often come out better because they contain a lower proportion of water. The nutrients are more concentrated and, by not resorting to pesticides, the plants increase the production of antioxidants (for example, vitamins C and E, or pigments beneficial to health such as anthocyanins) that help them defend themselves against pests.

They provide more phenolic compounds

The most conclusive research on the nutritional difference between organic and conventional foods are reviews that work with data obtained from many previous studies. As the one published in the British Journal of Nutrition in 2014. An international team of experts, coordinated from the University of Newcastle (United Kingdom), reviewed 343 studies on the subject and concluded that organic foods contain higher concentrations of polyphenolic antioxidants than conventional ones .

These phenolic compounds reduce the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as certain types of cancer. Specifically, the data showed the following results:

• 19% more phenolic acids.
• 69% more flavonones.
• 28% more stilbenes.
• 26% more flavones.
• 50% more flavanols.
• 51% more anthocyanins.

In addition, the same study also determined that organic crops have lower levels (up to half) of toxic heavy metals, such as cadmium, one of the three most frequent contaminants in food, along with lead and mercury.

6% more vitamin C, A and E

A report for the European Parliament, released in December 2016, reviewed the scientific literature on the nutritional content of organic and conventional foods, and determined that the former provided an average of 6% more vitamin C, as well as similar higher percentages beta carotene (provitamin A) and vitamin E.

In 2017, researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and North Carolina State University reached similar conclusions in a review of 17 reviews: the organic vegetables and fruits tested contained more vitamin C, minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc and phosphorus, and antioxidant compounds.

And all these conclusions have been confirmed a few months ago by a review by Dr. Axel Mie (4), from the Karolinska Institute, the training and research center that proposes the Nobel Prize in Medicine every year. According to the Swedish study, published in Environmental Health, organic foods provide significantly more antioxidant polyphenols and slightly more vitamin C.

It is convenient for us to increase the consumption of organic products

The properties of eco foods are proven, but still very few people benefit from them. Of every 100 euros that Spaniards spend on food, only 2 go to organic.

For 10 years we have been the European country with the most hectares dedicated to organic production (two million in 2017). We have the possibility of accessing a wide variety of eco, fresh and local food, but most of it is exported. Every year their consumption increases by 12%, but we still invest three times less than a German and half that of an average European.

It is true that organic foods are more expensive, but they imply savings in health costs and fill us with physical and mental well-being by knowing that we do the right thing for ourselves and for the planet.

Start with these organic foods

If we cannot make the entire purchase with an ecological seal, we can choose the eco alternative to the products most contaminated with pesticides:

• Tomatoes and peppers are the most contaminated vegetables, with 37 different pesticides according to the Spanish Agency for Consumption, Food Safety and Nutrition. Other vegetables especially affected are spinach, green beans and artichokes.
• Strawberries, apples, and grapes are the fruits that tend to contain the most pesticides, especially when purchased out of season.
• In rice, wheat, maize and oats we found multiple pesticide residues with hormonal effect.

References

1. Julia Baudry et al. Urinary pesticide concentrations in French adults with low and high organic food consumption: Results from the general population-based NutriNet-Santé. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology . 2018 (doi: 10.1038 / s41370-018-0062-9)
2. Julia Baudry et al. Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk. JAMA Internal Medicine . 2018 (doi: 10.1001 / jamainternmed. 2018.4357)
3. Julia Baudry et al. Association between organic food consumption and metabolic syndrome: cross-sectional results from the NutriNet-Santé study. European Journal of Nutrition. 2018 (pp 2477–2488)
4. Axel Mie et al. Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture: a comprehensive review. Environmental Health. 2017 (16-111)