Organic Produce No Healthier

CANADA - According to a recent study conducted by British researchers, the nutritional quality of organically farmed fruits and vegetables is similar to the quality of those produced using traditional farming methods.
According to a survey conducted by the Canadian Cancer Society, 70% of Canadians are concerned about the presence of pesticide residue found on fruits and vegetables.
While this concern is understandable (we all want to live in a pesticide and pollution-free world), you must still keep in mind that the vast majority of these foods contain only miniscule quantities of these chemicals.
In fact, 97% of imported and 99% of Canadian agriculture products don't contain pesticide levels in excess of the safety limits imposed on food by Health Canada.
But despite this information, the demand for organic foods has continued to rise in recent years. However, organic food products are generally more expensive. But does the added cost really translate into food that is better for you?
Many studies have tried to prove that organically grown foods contain larger quantities of nutrients than food produced using traditional methods.
The results, however, have all been very different. Some have shown a higher content of antioxidants in the organic product, while some found no difference whatsoever.
To try and clear things up, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England thoroughly examined all of the studies conducted to determine the differences between conventionally and organically grown food in the last 50 years.
After identifying 55 studies that contained the required scientific properties, the researchers compared each type of food's content of nutrients (including vitamins, minerals and phenolic compounds).
This analysis showed unequivocally that the differences between the two types of food production are much smaller than predicted.
For example, the content of nutrients such as vitamin C, phenolic compounds and minerals such as magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc and copper don't change, regardless of how the food was produced.
Minor differences were discovered when it came to phosphorous (higher in organic foods) and nitrogen (higher in conventionally grown food), but these differences are too small to have an impact on one's health. In other words, organically grown or not, fruits and vegetables have the same nutritional qualities.
These results confirm what we have said several times: vegetables play a major role in the prevention of chronic illnesses and, when it comes to their impact on your health, it doesn't matter whether these veggies were grown organically or not. The important thing is to eat them as often as possible!
But even if organic fruits and vegetables don't offer you superior health benefits, there are nonetheless several good reasons to pick these products if you are able to afford them.
For one, the absence of pesticides and other chemicals allows organic farmers to avoid exposing themselves to high concentrations of the chemicals.
People may also prefer to go organic because the produce looks better, tastes better or comes from small, local sources.
And of course, for people who can't stand the thought of exposing themselves to any chemicals whatsoever, the idea of controlling what goes into their bodies by favouring organic foods will likely be an attractive concept.
from The Toronto Sun