Organics no healthier than conventionally grown veggies, study says

by Sarah Gilbert, Posted Jan 30th 2006 @ 4:08PM

I'm not sure if anyone was really laboring under the misconception that organic vegetables contained more vitamins and minerals than conventionally-grown ones. If you were, though, you should know that it is a misconception. A recent Dutch study evaluated 15 different vegetables, including broccoli, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and found that there was no difference in the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants found in organic produce.

So, while eating organics may be better for the earth, it's not going to make your life more vitamin-ful.

Source

Filed Under: Farming, Business, Ingredients
Tags: europe, organic, organic broccoli, organic produce, organic vegetables, organic veggies, OrganicBroccoli, OrganicProduce, OrganicVegetables, OrganicVeggies, vegetables

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-30-2006 @5:29PM Zach said... Note: Nobody eats organics because they think they have more vitamins/minerals/whatever.
They eat them because they don't have pesticides.
Which actually is a lot healthier.
So, organics are much healthier than usual produce, not because they have more vitamins, but because they don't have some things that are in usual produce.
'k?
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1-30-2006 @6:28PM Magictofu said... I'd like to read this study. What we know however is that most veggies grown today have up to 50% less vitamins than those from 50 years ago. For what I remember reading the most common explanation for this was that contemporary farming techniques favour vegetables with a higher content of water, which have long shelf life and vegetables which can grow very fast. I might be wrong but I have the impression most organic vegetable producers tend to grow a greter variety of veggies including older varieties as well as tastier ones... which, I think, are probably more nutrient dense than the industrial ones. Sorry for being so skeptical.
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1-30-2006 @6:46PM Magictofu said... Here's a few links to other studies claiming the opposite... I wonder if there is a scientific concensus on the issue.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/03/030304073059.htm

http://journeytoforever.org/farm_library/bobsmith.html

http://www.organicfqhresearch.org/downloads/diet_effects.pdf

And here's a cool bibliography for those who want to dig deeper:

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/srb0003.htm

There is also a lot of different studies on this site:

http://journeytoforever.org/garden_organiccase.html

I do not know how credible each sources are but most suggest the opposite of what this post argues.

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1-30-2006 @7:26PM extramsg said... Two of those links have to do with anti-oxidants, not vitamins, per se. In one of those links (which are currently screwed up) it noted that pesticides reduce anti-oxidants, while fertilizers increase them. That would suggest that true organics are not the best choice.

The one that deals with vitamins -- ie, "elements" -- is a really, really odd study. Seems entirely unprofessional. Ituitive, but like one of my sophomore students did it when I was a TA.
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1-30-2006 @8:23PM Allison St. Claire said... I'd be very wary of that Dutch study until you know who sponsored it -- either overtly or covertly. Conventionally grown foods have all sorts of dangerous pesticides, fertilizer residues, genetically modified additives or biological changes that don't allow your body to stay in healthy balance. Also they've mostly traveled a long way to get to you, so their healthy energy (whether vitamin, antioxident, minerals or whatever) have diminished considerably. And no independent study has ever disputed that food can only absorb what's in the soil to begin with. Organics grow in healthy, biodynamic soils that are rich in multiple nutrients which go straight to your body's needs. Fertilizers, over-planting, and Big Agribusiness unconsciousness create pseudo-foods. Eat one way for a few months, then switch to the other and see how your energy varies, your taste buds react, and your general satisfaction with what you've eaten differs.
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