Is organic food healthier than non-organic food?. This is one of the most common questions that is being asked by consumers world wide. Here are 8 reasons why organic food is better than the non-organic food. New research from Europe has indicated positive benefits from organic food and organic agriculture to the human health. Below are some of the top benefits of organic food based on the research paper: “Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture“.

Organic food may reduce the risk of allergic disease

There are indications from scientific studies that organic food consumption is associated with a lower risk of childhood allergies.

Organic food may reduce the risk of obesity

Adult consumers who frequently eat organic food are also less likely to be overweight or obese compared to other consumers. However, the evidence for this effect is currently not conclusive as no long-term studies have yet been carried out.

Organic fruits, vegetables and wholegrain products are associated with reduced risk of Chronic diseases

Consumers who regularly consume organic food usually have healthier dietary patterns. The organic food consumers usually have a higher consumption of fruit, vegetables and wholegrain products and a lower consumption of meat, compared to other consumers. These dietary patterns are found to be associated with various health benefits. The diet described above is associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Organic food could have a lesser impact on immune system

Based on several animal experiments using feed consisting of the same ingredients, but one organic another conventional production, suggest that the feed production system has a different impact on the development of animals. Specifically, two-generation animal studies indicate an effect of the feed production system on the offspring’s immune system. However, it is currently unclear how these observations translate into effects for humans, if at all.

Organic food reduces exposure to Pesticides

Organic farming largely relies on preventive measures for plant protection, therefore the use of pesticides is low and potential risks to human health are mostly avoided.  Overall, consumption of organic food is found to greatly decrease the consumer’s pesticide exposure, as well as acute and chronic risks from such exposure.

Some of the concerns with pesticide  are the negative effects of exposure to insecticides on children’s cognitive development. Such risks can be minimized with organic food, especially during pregnancy and in infancy. It is recommended to have reduced dietary exposure to pesticide residues, especially for pregnant women and children.

Organic agriculture provides a source of food with low pesticide residues thereby aiding overall lower pesticide exposure of the population and the environment.

Organic food has lower Cadmium content

The long-term use of mineral phosphorus fertilizer has contributed to increased cadmium concentrations in agricultural soils. There are indications that crops produced by organic farming, specifically cereal crops, have comparatively low cadmium concentrations, although this is not certain.

This is highly relevant to human health because food is the dominant route of human exposure to cadmium in non-smokers. There have been no studies comparing the effects of long-term organic vs. conventional farm management on cadmium concentration in crops. However, long-term experiments over more than 100 years indicate that cereal crops fertilized with mineral fertilizer tend to have a higher cadmium content compared to cereal crops fertilised with animal manure. This issue is highly
relevant to human health and deserves further investigation.

Also, organic food is found to have moderately higher content of phenolic compounds. Phenolic compounds are believed to mediate
protective effects against certain chronic diseases in humans, however, it is not currently possible to translate such differences into specific health benefits.

Organic milk has high omega-3 fatty acid content

Animals in organic husbandry receive comparatively low amounts of concentrate feeds. It is well established that the fatty acid composition of the feed affects the fatty acid composition of milk, eggs and meat. As grass and clover have a high content of omega-3 fatty acids, organic milk has been found to have an approximately 50 % higher content of omega-3 fatty acids on average compared with conventional milk. A similar effect has been observed for organic meat, although there is less supporting evidence of this. A higher omega-3 content usually represents an advantage from a nutritional point of view. However, milk, dairy products and meat account for only a minor proportion of dietary omega-3 intake in the human diet. Based on current knowledge, the calculated additional human omega-3 intake from organic animal products cannot be extrapolated to any specific health benefit.

Another group of fatty acids, ruminant fatty acids, are also found in higher concentrations in organic milk compared to conventional milk. However, the effects of these fatty acids for human health are unclear at this point.

Organic food reduces the Antibiotic resistance

The use of antibiotics has been clearly linked to the risk of developing antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Globally more antibiotics are used in animal production than for human health. The World Health Organization has identified the overly prevalent use of antibiotics in animal production to be one of the contributing factors to increased antibiotic resistance in bacteria. There is a lower risk of the development of antibiotic resistance in organic animal husbandry. This is due to heavily restricting preventive use of antibiotics in organic husbandry, where the maintenance of animal health instead relies on preventive management factors, such as hygiene measures and decreasing stocking density.  There are several routes for resistant bacteria and resistance genes to move from farm animals to humans.  However, the restricted use of antibiotics in organic systems could minimize this risk.

So overall, organic food is found to be beneficial to human health and is something that needs to be considered with more importance. As you may know – You are what you eat!

DISCLAIMER
The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author and the author’s interpretation. Any opinions expressed therein do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament or the research.

Source:

European Parliament’s research: Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture