The new study, available to read here, broke down just how beneficial organic food is for your body.
While it’s long been assumed certain organic food is healthier than regular food, only a few studies revealed the specifics. Now, thanks to the British Journal of Nutrition research, we can see that organic food has a higher amount of antioxidants, about 20 to 40 percent more, than conventional food. Antioxidants assist the body to combat certain diseases and cancers.
Also, the study found organic foods contain 10 to even 100 times less levels of pesticides than conventional foods, as Foodbeast sums up.
In addition, researchers reported that organic foods contain lower levels of cadmium (found in cigarette smoke) and nitrogen, two harmful ingredients. “It is speculated that pesticides in conventional foods increases the uptake of heavy metals in crops,” Foodbeast writes.
The study concludes:
…organic crops, on average, have higher concentrations of antioxidants, lower concentrations of Cd and a lower incidence of pesticide residues than the non-organic comparators across regions and production seasons.
Organic food is increasingly becoming popular, especially in the U.S. A survey by the Organic Trade Association found that 81 percent of families buy organic products. “For most families, the interest in organic products is mostly due to concerns about providing their children with a healthy diet,” we learn here.
As much as many food consumers want to go organic, determining which products are indeed organic can be challenging. In August, it was revealed a new test could better navigate this confusion. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy already verifies the authenticity of honey and olive oil, and researchers from the Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority and the Wuerzburg University in Germany believe this test is the future of organic food authentication.
