Organic food is no healthier

[Daisy]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32205139/ns ... nutrition/

consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits..........A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

Maybe I am wrong but I have always thought the organic movement is less about health and more about being against non sustainable agriculture. If any of you buy organic, is it primarily for the peceived health reasons or for a more idealistic reason?

[TrackDaddy]

Re: Organic food is no healthier

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32205139/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/

consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits..........A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

Maybe I am wrong but I have always thought the organic movement is less about health and more about being against non sustainable agriculture. If any of you buy organic, is it primarily for the peceived health reasons or for a more idealistic reason?

I always thought it was about avoiding the hazards of pesticides but not necessarily that the organic food would, in and of itself, make one more healthy.

[Pego]

avoiding the hazards of pesticides

...enriching all those fruits and vegetables by all those proteins, yumm :wink: !

[Cooter Brown]

We try to buy only organic. Never even once considered it to be more nutritious than non-organic other than it avoids pesticides in vegetables and antibiotics in meats. We also only buy grass fed beef, free range poultry and wild caught fish. The fact it's sustainable agriculture is a plus.

[sprintblox]

That study was about the nutritional value of organic foods, not the difference in pesticides and other chemical content.

[Speedfirst]

Folks want eternal life, but nobody wants to die :shock:

[Marlow]

Going to the grocery store is a bewildering experience to me. Far too many choices and far too little information to make a choice. So I don't. I buy whatever I reach first. Makes my life far simpler and more enjoyable. I'll die when I die and my death will have very little to do with whether I eat organic or inorganic, free-range or raised in a test-tube! I eat HORRIBLY and am in FAR better health than my peers (at least as assessed by how I feel, and what my annual battery of health tests indicate).

[mojo]

I do think certain fruits taste better if they are organic (strawberries for example) but I choose locally grown over organic. I do believe the fresher the food the better the nutritional content.

I probably buy about 30% organic produce and the rest is conventional.

[Daisy]

I do think certain fruits taste better if they are organic (strawberries for example) but I choose locally grown over organic. I do believe the fresher the food the better the nutritional content..

Me too.

That study was about the nutritional value of organic foods, not the difference in pesticides and other chemical content.

As to the pesticides, is that not part of nutrition? I would have thought that anything that goes into your body should count, both the good and the bad.

[bad hammy]

As to the pesticides, is that not part of nutrition? I would have thought that anything that goes into your body should count, both the good and the bad.

All things being equal, I'd prefer to avoid pesticides . . .

[Daisy]

All things being equal, I'd prefer to avoid pesticides . . .

I think that sounds like wise advice. Maybe preservatives too.

[TrackDaddy]

I'll die when I die and my death will have very little to do with whether I eat organic or inorganic, free-range or raised in a test-tube!

I agree Marlow.

I don't think organic or farm grown or not really matters.

I think whole grain/high fiber/low fat foods can be important, but not because they're organically grown or not.

[TrakFan]

I eat HORRIBLY and am in FAR better health than my peers (at least as assessed by how I feel, and what my annual battery of health tests indicate).

Aren't you an athlete? Its likely your exercise program to puts you ahead of your peers on "feeling well", as well as some of those other tests.

[Marlow]

Its likely your exercise program to puts you ahead of your peers on "feeling well", as well as some of those other tests.

Which brings up another important point. Good (sweaty, pulse-raising) exercise makes one healthier than what kind of food one eats, at least in my experience. EVERYBODY at my work place that's my age (at least half the 120 adults) eats better than I do, but they all complain about their health woes and act decrepit! :?

[KevinM]

Like daisy and mojo, I think local should be emphasized over organic. The fact that many locally grown foods are also organic is mostly a side benefit to me. Eating goods shipped in from thousands of miles away (I accidentally purchased garlic from China last week!) or buying refined products made of industrially grown corn are acts that should require as much examination as driving a gas-guzzling car.

But to say "see, organic isn't all that great - I will continue to eat whatever the hell I want" is missing the greater point.