For health’s sake, buying organic may be best

Like many Americans, I’ve found myself putting organic foods into my shopping cart more often.

It’s easy to do when there’s an organic section in nearly every grocery store I visit.

The cost is usually 25 percent to 100 percent higher than conventional food — a price that’s sometimes hard to swallow. Yet, more than two-thirds of Americans buy organic food occasionally, with one quarter purchasing it every week.

Even with the inflated price tag, sales have been growing 20 percent a year since the 1990s. Today, organic foods have become a $15 billion industry, with sales expected to double by 2009.

Still, you may be wondering, just how worthwhile is it to buy organic?

Potential rewards

Eating organic can boost your supply of certain nutrients.

On average, you can get about 20 percent to 30 percent more vitamin C, iron and magnesium from organically grown produce compared to conventionally grown versions, according to some studies.

Organic fruits and vegetables may also contain higher amounts of plant substances called phytochemicals. In recent years, scientists have discovered that many of these natural plant substances act as antioxidants, preventing oxidation in the body that can lead to cancer and chronic disease.

“Plants produce phytochemicals such as phenolics to fight off insects and microorganisms,” said Dr. Lynne Eldridge, co-author of the book “Avoiding Cancer One Day at a Time.”

“It appears that by ‘protecting’ plants from invasion by insects and bacteria with pesticides, we are actually decreasing their need to manufacture cancer-fighting antioxidants,” she writes.

Now that’s a fascinating — though as yet unproven — concept.

Additionally, organic farming practices are usually friendlier to the environment.

For example, organic food must be produced without the use of most conventional pesticides, without synthetic or sewage-based fertilizers, without biotechnology and without ionizing radiation.

Organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products must come from animals that receive no antibiotics or growth hormones. So organic-food production uses less energy and results in much less contamination of the environment.

Fewer pesticides

Organics have another edge when it comes to the amount of pesticides we unknowingly ingest. A study conducted in the late 1990s by the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that about three-fourths of foods sampled from conventionally grown crops contained pesticide residues.

In contrast, about 23 percent of organic produce had the residues, which can come from groundwater, rain, soil or drifting dust from neighboring nonorganic fields. Any residues that occur on organically raised fruits and vegetables are usually very small.

The blood pesticide levels of school-aged kids have been studied by scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Researchers found that levels of two common pesticides dropped to nondetectable levels within five days after the children began eating organic produce.

Surprisingly, very little is known about the long-term health effects of pesticides that linger on conventional food.

The bottom line

Organic foods are costly but may have some health benefits.

To get the biggest bang for your buck, consider buying organic versions of the 12 fruits and vegetables that usually are most heavily treated with pesticides.

The so-called “dirty dozen” are peaches (highest pesticide load), apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, imported grapes, pears, spinach and potatoes.

Going organic for these 12 foods can reduce your pesticide exposure by as much as 90 percent, according to tests done by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C.

For more information: Environmental Working Group, www.ewg.org.

Contact Dr. Elizabeth Smoots, a board-certified family physician and fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, at doctor@practicalprevention.com. Her columns are not intended as a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Before adhering to any recommendations in this column consult your health care provider.

&Copy; 2007 Elizabeth S. Smoots

The ‘dirty dozen’

Twelve fruits and vegetables most heavily treated with pesticides are called the “dirty dozen.” Try buying organic produce for these 12 to start.

1. Peaches

2. Apples

3. Sweet bell peppers

4. Celery

5. Nectarines

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Lettuce

9. Imported grapes