The Healthy Tales

Archive for the ‘health’ Category

Earlier this week, British researchers released a study in which they concluded that organic food is not healthier than conventional food. What does this mean? In short, that there are no additional health benefits or nutritional benefits for you to pick the more expensive organic items in the grocery store over the mass grown food.

I have to admit I am a little surprised in the findings. For many years, I have read articles and news releases making claims that organic food was much healthier and provided additional vitamins and minerals. I just assumed they were correct. These researchers though not only did scientific tests on the food, they also combed over more than 162 other studies and their results. Everything pointed to the same thing – these foods are all equal.

So what do you think? Will you quit buying organic food? Did you ever buy organic food? Does any of this matter to you?

Personally, I did buy organic produce and milk for a while but have since stopped. With the rising prices, something had to change so I decided organic would be one of many things to change. I figure if I watch the processed food and wash my produce thoroughly, I can cut down on chemicals and pesticides without having to pay the extra money for organic.

Article below courtesy of Yahoo! News.

Wed Jul 29, 12:29 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

“A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance,” said Alan Dangour, one of the report’s authors.

“Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government’s Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon Jessop)