Organic Food vs. Conventional
There are lots of misconceptions around Organic food. Is it healthier, more nutritional, better for the environment? A lot of those are common assumptions, but not necessary rooted in evidence.
In nutrition it’s difficult to assess a causation, rather than just correlations. Most medical studies take two groups & give one a drug (the other nothing/a placebo) & see the difference. In nutrition it’s harder to find such definitive answers as our diets are made up from so many different elements. Health markers (or risk) are often down to the sum of the parts, rather than a single component.
Research
There was a recent systematic-review by Vigar et al. (2019) that looked at whether there was a measurable benefit on human health from consuming organic versus conventional food. Systematic reviews look at a number of studies on a specific topic & correlate the information for a clearer overview. This review included 35 studies.
From clinical trials: “The majority of the results show no, or minimal, significant differences between organic (O) and non-organic (NO) treatments in the biomarkers selected”. From observational data: “It is possible that the benefits of organic diets are associated only with long-term consumption, or result from lifestyle factors or dietary patterns”. Herein lies the problem from this type of study – breaking down cause and effect.
People who tend to eat more organic food are often health seeking individuals. By that we mean they are likely to have high activity levels, eat lots of vegetables, don’t smoke/drink excessively. So do they have better health markers & a lower risk of disease because they eat organic, or because they are generally more health conscious?
So should you eat organic?
That’s a personal call. Factors could include the cost (the blueberries here from Tesco were £2.50 for 150g of organic or £1.09 for 125g conventional – I bought the latter!) Maybe the small possible benefits from some studies means you’d feel better eating organic? Again that’s your choice. But for optimal health, concentrate more on which foods you’re eating, focusing on the usual; veggies, fruit, wholegrains, legumes, lean protein, oily fish.
(Reposted from Instagram)
