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November 17 2007
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It's Official: Organic Really is Better

The debate over whether organic food is healthier than conventionally grown food may be over, according to results from a $25-million study into organic food -- the largest of its kind to date.

The four-year, European-Union-funded study found that:

  • Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants

  • Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc

  • Milk from organic herds contained up to 90 percent more antioxidants
The researchers obtained their results after growing fruit and vegetables, and raising cattle, on adjacent organic and non-organic sites. They say that eating organic foods can even help to increase the nutrient intake of people who don’t eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

The UK’s Food Standards Agency, which has formerly said that there is no difference between organic and conventional foods, is reviewing the research findings.

Sources:



Dr. MercolaDr. Mercola's Comments:
Many “health” experts continue to state that there is little difference between organic and conventionally raised produce, but if they review this evidence, they will likely have to change their tune.

Food grown in healthier soil, with natural fertilizers and no chemicals, simply has to be more nutritious. It is common knowledge -- though knowledge that is greatly suppressed in the United States.

A 2003 study in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, for example, found that organic foods are better for fighting cancer.

And in 2005, scientists found that, compared to rats that ate conventional diets, organically fed rats experienced various health benefits. Rats that ate organic or minimally fertilized diets had:
  • Improved immune system status
  • Better sleeping habits
  • Less weight and were slimmer than rats fed other diets
  • Higher vitamin E content in their blood (for organically fed rats)
Does this mean that you should ditch all of your conventional produce and meat, and only buy certified organic foods? Well, yes … and no.

Be Very Wary of What Organic Foods You Buy, and Where You Buy Them

Although the organic label has really only become widely popular in the last several years, it has already been greatly compromised.

Whereas organic foods were once truly raised naturally, on small farms with great integrity, big business has now stepped in and tainted many of the principles upon which the organic label was founded.

Wal-Mart, for instance, is now the largest organic retailer in the United States. According to the Organic Consumers Association, the mega-store is:
  • Selling Horizon and Aurora Organic milk that comes from intensive confinement factory farm dairies
  • Importing cheap organic foods and ingredients from China and Brazil
  • Posting signs in its stores that mislead people into believing that non-organic items are actually organic
In other words, organic food now represents a $14-billion business in the United States, and the quality and meaning of the organic label is undergoing a fast decline.

You are, in fact, being ripped off by much of the organic food you are buying.

One of the biggest rip-offs, in my opinion, is organic milk. Milk is not something I recommend that anyone drink unless it is in raw form. Organic milk is NOT raw milk, it is pasteurized milk, and will be associated with all of the health problems of pasteurized milk, regardless of its organic certification.

Another big-time deception is all of those “organic” convenience, junk foods like ice cream, crackers, cookies, pizzas and potato chips. A potato chip is one of the worst foods you can eat, regardless of whether or not the potato is organic.

Yet big business is cashing in on your desire to “have your cake and eat it too,” so to speak, and deceiving you into believing that you can eat cookies, ice cream and potato chips without feeling guilty because they’re “organic.”

Local is Now Better Than Organic

If you want to get the freshest, most nutrient-rich foods available, you simply must seek out real sources close to your home. When I say “real sources” I’m referring to farmers, food coops, farmers’ markets, and community-supported agriculture programs -- NOT your local supermarket, or even your local big-name health food store.

These are the people who are growing your food, and only by speaking with them and establishing a rapport will you truly know if your food is being raised with integrity and health in mind.

Know also that many small farmers raise their foods according to organic standards, yet are unable to afford the federal certification progress to legally call them so. Ask your local farmers, and you’ll likely be surprised at how natural their farming methods are.

The bottom line?

Folks, simply stick to eating food that comes from your community, and from nature. Eat meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and more that come from a farmer you trust, according to your Nutritional Type, and you will thrive.

For those few foods you can’t find locally, buying from a supermarket or health food store is, of course, a practical option. Just make sure that these supermarket foods make up only a tiny portion of your family’s overall food.

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Community Comments ( 61 )
Comment on this Article
  
  
KathieJamisonCote
[ Joined on 04/07 ] [ Posted on October 29, 2007 ]
17 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
to go a bit further with this - Tuft's University recently stated that "organic fruits and vegetables are 88% more nutritious than conventional produce!"

What does that say about conventional produce????
GO ORGANIC ALL THE WAY - organic sustainable farming creates life-giving foods........conventional agriculture kills off the good stuff and adds pesticides which are very harmful to our bodies and our earth!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Russ Bianchi
[ Joined on 09/06 ]  [ Posted on October 31, 2007]
2 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
One can of spinach in 1958 would take 38 cans of the same weight to achieve the same nutrient values, now.
Mercola
  
Dr. David Spitz
[ Joined on 12/06 ]  [ Posted on November 19, 2007]
       
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

The good news is that more and more local communities have farms that are switching to organically grown crops. This way, we get the best of both worlds,,,organic and local.

Talk to your local farmers about going organic; make them understand that it is better for all in the long run---even their bottom line.

Best Regards

Dr Dave

  
  
Islander
[ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on October 29, 2007 ]
8 Points        
   
 
Moderator User
So it took 4 years and £12 million to confirm what we have known for a minimum of three generations? Commercial crops have been grown on depleted soils for at least that long. Fruits and vegetables cannot contain micronutrients that were not present in the soil to begin with. Now spray them with herbicides, fungicides and pesticides and you have a tasteless, toxic lump with reduced nutrient value. No wonder kids don't want to eat their veggies!

Organic crops nourish us without poisoning us. What a brilliant conclusion. Just imagine: if they had asked us, they could have saved £12 million!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
AZhiker
[ Joined on 01/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
2 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I remember visiting my Grandmother in Kansas (1970s) and having to go out and help her pick veggies (yuk) from the garden for dinner. She taught me how to pick the green beans and ate one right there while she was picking. Of course I was polite when she offered me one....  and upon chewing, I thought it was one of the most amazing things I had ever tasted!!!!!  Islander is SO correct, kids would love their veggies if we only had the kind of soil and organic methods my Grandmother had.

  
  
mmc88121
[ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on October 29, 2007 ]
7 Points        
   
 
Moderator User
"You can not always rely on information from overseas as being accurate."  I agree with the study, but I am sure some die hard Agri-chemical executives will say something like the above.  Heard from an unnamed doctor when told about a study in the Lancet.

Mary
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Gudni Einarsson
[ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Well it sounds as well as American arrogance.

Mercola
  
Gudni Einarsson
[ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Sounds a bit like American arrogance as well.

Mercola
  
K.T.
[ Joined on 08/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

Mary, If you ever bother to do research of your own, on your own, you will find that a good amount of research comes from overseas.  I agree with all the replies.

Mercola
  
EQ
[ Joined on 03/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
4 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola

Gudni Einarsson,

Careful not to confuse American corporations with the American public.  Huge numbers of us here are very aware of what's going on.  We are protesting, and it's either being restricted or not covered.  We are active, but the corporations have stolen the government.  People can be incarcerated indefinitely without reason, etc., etc.

I recently toured Germany, and one kind woman asked what it was like to be in the US right now.  She compared it to the beginnings of Nazi power where one knows there is something really awful going on, and one even tries to stop it, but we haven't figured out exactly how to get it to change.

Personally, I think if everyone here really stopped buying all but the absolute bare necessities such as organic food and decent shelter even for just a short period of time, the corporations would crumble and the power would come back to the people.  This could be one way of going about it without violence.

Mercola
  
KathieJamisonCote
[ Joined on 04/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
1 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola

EQ - Thank you for defending those of us who do know the tragic consequences of ignorance....You have a perfect solution!  Let's keep trying to educate.

Scary about the correlation between Germany prior to WWII and the United States prior to .....(what's scarier, is it's true!)

Let every devious, corrupt and harmful corporation to the planet, to the animals and to humans die off as quickly as possible!

Mercola
  
Server Shepherd
[ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

RE: correlation between Germany prior to WWII and the United States prior to .....

You guys think small.

Have you read George Orwell’s 1984?

We are driving straight at it. In a few generations, we will live to see some permutation of “Big Brother”.  We have the technology talked about in the book, we will have it more so in the future, and we have the biochemistry down now. There are some ideas in the book that are too radical to discuss here, but I can envision them coming true sooner than you might think. (and I am talking about the stuff at the back of the book.)

Mercola
  
Masonsmama
[ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on November 18, 2007]
       
   
Novice User
  Mercola

KT, that was Mary's point... her statement at the beginning of the sentence referred to what she thinks will be the reply of big business. It seems you made the mistake I always do, reading too fast, and not to the end. I still do it, you'd think I'd learn... but I read a bit and jump to conclusions instead of reading the whole shabang!

Mercola
  
cmichaelo
[ Joined on 02/07 ]  [ Posted on November 19, 2007]
1 Points        
   
Novice User
  Mercola

I've lived 25y in Denmark and 20y in the US.  I can tell you this, Americans are as smart as Danes, or any other group of people.  But by God, most Americans are ignorant to point it is embarrassing. But it's not their fault.  It's the fault of them being swallowed up by the American belief system, the brainwashing news and commercials, the American selfish value system and the worst of them all, the so-called American dream.  It's all focused on money, lies and self gratification.

My toes curl up when Bush mentions Gods name.  God is for society, caring and unselfishness.  Any God that I know of represents these fundamental traits.  America calls itself "God's own country".  I makes me wanna puke.  To succeed in this country, you "must" follow the money - you "must" adopt the American dream abc - you can't afford to be open minded - be ignorant and follow the crowd if you wanna make that first $1M.

Even my own wife, who's a highly educated and successful person, is ignorant.  Occasionally, I can reach her, though that is the exception.  Even when I do manage to make her see the light, it's only a matter of time before she relapses into robotic state.  She's been brainwashed - and I don't have the skills nor energy to reverse this.  She can not fathom that inorganic pasteurized milk might be bad for our kids or that giving them chocholate chip cookies before bedtime is a bad idea no matter how you look at it.

It's therefore no wonder to me that medical doctors, news casters, scientists,  our government, etc can not comprehend these things either.  It's not that they are not smart.  It's simply that there exists a mental block to even consider the possibility that the food we eat is no good.  It's too much for them...and of course they also won't believe it because it's bad for business and bad for their careers.

Michael

  
  
dare2baware
[ Joined on 11/07 ] [ Posted on November 17, 2007 ]
5 Points        
   
 
Novice User

Everything in my household is organic and that includes toiletries. I wouldn't have it any other way.

 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
KathieJamisonCote
[ Joined on 04/07 ]  [ Posted on November 17, 2007]
       
   
Savvy User
  Mercola