Organic Food is Overrated

A recent study found that organic fruits, vegetables and animal products contain fewer pesticides than conventional foods, but are not nutritionally superior. Or, as written in the Annals of Internal Medicine:

“The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”

While this information seems simple enough, recognizing the study’s true findings may have proven to be a task if you found the story on Yahoo! or in the New York Times. This seemingly straightforward study spawned several fairly misleading headlines.

A few examples:

•  Stanford study: Organic food is not healthier than non-organic 
•  Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce 
•  Study questions how much better organic food is 
•  Stanford study finds organic food is safer to eat 
•  Scientists ‘surprised’ to find organic food not much healthier than conventional eats 
•  Study finds organic food is no better on vitamins, nutrients 
•  Stanford study: Organic food no more nutritious than non-organic 
•  Is It Worth Buying Organic? Maybe Not 
•  Organics Safer, No More Nutritious Than Conventional Foods
  
•  Little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, Stanford study finds 

Each headline beats around the same bush, but almost all gloss over a potentially life-changing point: Organic foods contain significantly fewer antibiotics, pesticides and other toxic substances.

None of these stories mention that a reduced level of toxicity greatly reduces your risk of dozens of life-threatening diseases. More significantly, all but two of these articles (including Stanford’s own press coverage!) failed to mention the higher concentration of certain cancer-preventing compounds in organic produce.

According to the New York Times, “The organic produce also contained more compounds known as phenols, believed to help prevent cancer, than conventional produce. While the difference was statistically significant, the size of the difference varied widely from study to study, and the data was based on the testing of small numbers of samples.”

Staying informed pays dividends. You care about your family’s well-being, so remember the following three rules whenever you’ve stumbled upon the latest breaking health news:

1. Cross-reference. If a spicy headline catches your eye, search the topic on Google. You’ll find dozens of results, each titled differently. If any of the headlines contradict each other, you know you need to dig deeper.
2. Get to the source. Cut through all the spin by pulling up the original report, study or findings. This document will be bland, but it will frankly state the results of the study. The truth will be found here.
3. Differentiate trend from truth. Just because walnuts are being featured as the healthiest nut today doesn’t mean they truly are. Almonds, pistachios and even pecans are often praised for their nutritional content, yet they seem to be rotated to the headlines once every few months to keep health sections appearing fresh. Ask your trusted Maximized Living doctor what would work best for you.

Be wary of fitness and nutrition fads. Take the time to learn about how the nutrients in your food truly affect your body, and learn to recognize how these nutrients make you feel. Through this approach, you can consistently make the wisest decision about how to fuel your body.

Want to learn more?

The Maximized Living Nutrition Plans book outlines the benefits of choosing organic produce and meats over the conventionally grown stuff. It even contains sample recipes and shopping lists to make the transition to healthy eating that much simpler. Contact the doctors at 212 Degrees Of Wellness to get your hands on a copy today.