No final answer on value of organics
DEAR DOCTOR: Are organic foods better for you than ordinary foods? I say yes because there are no hormones or pesticides involved. My husband says that once you wash your produce carefully, the only difference between an organic peach and a regular one is the price tag.
DEAR READER: At its most basic, when something is organically grown, it is understood to have been raised without the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers; without antibiotics; and with seeds or products that have not been genetically engineered or altered.
Are organically raised foods better for your health? Studies say maybe. Will we ever get a definitive answer? Probably not. The challenge is that the topic is so vast as to be virtually unmanageable. Even studies that have broken the question down into discrete parts come up with mixed results.
When you buy organic produce, you’re getting fruits and vegetables with measurably less pesticide residue than when you buy the same produce that has been conventionally grown. As to why organic produce has any pesticide residue at all, some have been OK’d for organic farming. Drift from conventional farms, plus lingering
DDT in the soil, are believed to account for the rest of the pesticide residue found on organic produce.
Studies show that organically grown produce also has higher levels of antioxidants and lower levels of the heavy metal cadmium than does conventional produce. And when it comes to beef, the FDA’s feeding guidelines that call for organic cattle to be raised on grass and alfalfa lead to meat that is higher in omega-3 fatty acids. Increased levels of omega-3’s are also found in organic dairy and eggs. On the minus side: Organically produced milk tends to be lower in iodine, an essential nutrient, than conventional milk.
In a paper published this year, researchers systematically examined the published literature on the benefits of organic versus conventional food. Their findings: “It is therefore currently not possible to quantify to what extent organic food consumption may affect human health.”
Bottom line: The “organic vs. conventional” battle rages on.