Study Says Organic Foods Offer No Extra Nutritional Value Over Conventional Food

A new study review might give organic foods some bad publicity. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine recently reviewed studies comparing the health benefits offered by organic foods to those provided by conventional foods. Scientists found that based on existing studies, organic foods don't offer significantly better nutrient content than conventional foods. And while that fact may seem shocking, here's the real kicker: There were only a handful of studies that examined this topic in the first place.

"A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and the quality of studies," wrote Alan D. Dangour and colleagues in the review's findings.

So clearly there's a dearth of research on the nutrient-related health benefits of organic foods versus conventional foods. That lack of knowledge really is appalling, and should be remedied by the health community. But my biggest fear with this review is that naysayers will take one of the findings—that according to the paltry number of studies conducted, organics don't provide any nutrient benefits over conventional—and give organics a bad name. Whether or not organic foods provide extra nutritional value is an important area of research, but it's not the whole picture.

For example, this review did not examine studies that looked at the health effects of pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics, and other chemicals. Most conventional foods contain at least trace amounts of these substances—organic foods don't. Even the knowledge base on how these compounds affect human health is only just beginning to sprout. Recent studies link pesticides to breast cancer in women and ADHD in children. Other evidence associates chemicals found in fertilizers to infant fatalities. Atrazine, another pesticide, has been linked to birth defects. And these latest studies don't even touch on all the environmental problems chemicals can cause.

Even after more research is done, scientists may very well find that organic items don't come packed with any more nutrients than traditional foods. Nutritionally speaking, an organic tomato may carry the same number of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. as a regular ol' tomato. But while organic foods may not be making us any healthier, I know they're not making us unhealthy. That's a claim I can't make for chemical-laden goods.

Photo credit: Scott Bauer via Wikimedia Commons