Health Effects

 

 

Currently, not very much scientific proof has been reached to say that organically grown foods are indeed very much healthier than conventionally grown foods.  But some studies have been done, and there are several aspects of the health effects of each type of food that are worthy of being discussed.

 

HEART HEALTH

In the United Kingdom, a study done by the University of Strathclyde and the Galloway Royal Infirmary found that eating organic could actually help reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.  The study discovered that organic vegetable soups contained six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic vegetable soups.  Salicylic acid helps combat the hardening of arteries, as well as bowel cancer.  This is the acid found in aspirin that causes its anti-inflammatory action.  The acid forms in plants as a defense against disease and stress.  The study determined that the levels of the salicylic acid are higher in organic vegetables because they were not treated with pesticides that keep them from needing to create as much salicylic acid.

 

PARKINSON’S DISEASE

A study using mice found that a combination of two common agricultural pesticides, maneb and paraquat, caused the same pattern of brain damage as is seen in people with Parkinson’s disease.  Maneb and paraquat are used by conventional farmers across millions of acres of the United States, maneb on crops including potatoes, tomatoes, lettuce and corn, and paraquat on corn, soybeans, cotton, and fruit.  Scientists did not determine that these pesticides were indeed the cause of the disease, but the effects of the two pesticides used in combination on the mice were startling.  After being exposed, though the mice appeared healthy, their dopamine neurons, which are key brain cells, were dying; this is very similar to what happens in Parkinson’s disease.  They had other similarities as well.  Furthermore, the two pesticides, maneb and paraquat, are used most in the same areas of the country where people are more likely to die of Parkinson’s.        

 

DIOXIN

Dioxin, also known as TCDD, is a chemical sometimes found in various pesticides and herbicides, and can be transported into the body through food that came in contact with it.  Dioxin has long been blamed for causing many health problems, including immune system suppression, infertility, and learning disabilities.  But more recently, dioxin was added to the list of known human carcinogens by the National Toxicology Program.

 

E. COLI

Many people have blamed organic food as a cause of contamination by the E. coli bacteria, due to the use of raw manure as fertilizer by organic farmers.  But this is actually a myth.  There are strict organic guidelines mandating that manure is either composted before use, or applied at least 90 days before harvesting, which gives sufficient time for any pathogens in the manure to break down.  As a matter of fact, conventional farmers use plenty of manure in their farming, as well, but they have no such regulations. 

 

 

 

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