Posted on 12/18/2012 10:13:26 PM PST by neverdem
Scientists in Denmark have compared how organic and non-organic diets affect dietary mineral uptake in humans, focusing on copper and zinc. They found that there is no difference between the two diets when it comes to uptake and how the minerals are processed in the body.
Copper and zinc are two essential trace elements with unknown availability in organic verses non-organic diets. Alicja Budek Mark and colleagues at the University of Denmark investigated the content of these elements in non-organic versus all-organic diets fed to 20 men over 12 days. And Mark’s team assessed the in vivo absorption of zinc and copper by analysing faecal samples taken from the men during days 8–12.
Different fertilisers and farming techniques affect the mineral content of plants in different ways
The team found that there was no difference in the content and absorption of zinc and copper between the two diets. Mark comments that she hopes the work contributes to the on-going debate about the health benefits of organic foods, providing evidence that organic foods do not seem to be better than conventional foods with regard to intake and absorption of selected minerals.
The health benefits of organic foods are an area of intense research as the demand for organic produce increases. Different fertilisers and farming techniques are known to affect the mineral content of plants in different ways, which in turn could affect the bioavailability of minerals to humans during digestion of plant matter eaten. However, what happens after the ingestion of these foods is unknown.
Janet Hunt, an expert in nutrition at the Nutrition and Environmental Studies Section of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria, says that ‘some proponents of organic food claim improved nutrient content of organically grown food, or improved nutrient absorption and utilisation, and studies such as this one help to refute such unsupported claims’.
A B Mark et al, Food Funct., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/c2fo30247k
“Organic” is largely a scam. Woe to us if we go fully organic. Everything in Africa is organic and they’re starving to death.
No.Just more expensive,
No.Just more expensive,
I would not be surprised if metallic minerals are metabolized differently from vitamins, antioccidents, and enzymes. A lot more research is needed, as well as much longer studies.
Soaking your vegetables in pesticide may not lower the nutrition value but there are other considerations here.
I won’t eat organic food!!!
All they do is throw shit at it and hope it grows!
I want mine raised with the proper fertalizers for the crop and soil used and pestisides to keep it bug free!!!
I had enough buggy crap before they invented DDT!!!
“Organic” is largely a scam. Woe to us if we go fully organic.
We get allot of organic food from Mexico!!!
Essentially, a "placebo" effect for veggies.
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EUROPEAN PROJECT AIMS TO CREATE 1,500 NEW STEM CELL LINES
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
Wash your hands, vegetables. Boil and fry your meat thoroughly. Boil baby-care vessels and such and you'll be ok.
The choice between organic produce and non organic is:
One apple has far less pesticides than the other. The apple with more pesticides will cumulatively do neurological damage to you, frequently upping your odds significantly of ending your life with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s.
The only thing I’ve noticed about “organic” foods is that they are smaller, way more expensive, and spoil much quicker than non-organic.
I know something about apples and pesticides. Can you produce a study proving your assertion?
I have been an organic gardener and farmer for over twenty years and enjoy having much healthier soil in which to grow my crops. I also enjoy the lower costs and healthier aspects of being “natural”. Not all organic producers practice a natural growing philosophy...as one vineyard owner explained to me years ago...if you have to spray an governmental ordained organic substance six times on your crops to handle a problem that can be handled with one spray of “chemicals” the chemicals are the more economical and indeed probably healthier way to go. At my level, I do not need to use chemicals ever...but, I have mainly limited my farming (small acreage) to grains and hay. My vegetable garden...which is about a third of an acre has never had a chemical on it since I purchased the farm about 18 years ago and it is highly productive and excellent, rich black soil.
Having said all this, I questioned a nutritionist (phd level) a few years back over which was more healthy to eat...they said that there has not been any research that has shown organic vegetables to be healthier...although there are indications that the growth hormones and antibiotics in meat may have been causing trouble for the last couple of generations.
“I know something about apples and pesticides. Can you produce a study proving your assertion?”
You may not be aware of this but farmers have much higher cancer rates than other occupations. Indeed, in my rural county in northern Illinois there are some cancer rates that are much higher than national average...because of the pesticides and fertilizers sprayed in area farmlands.
Here is a link that shows there has not been enough research done to “prove” casual relationship but the indications are very strong. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9498903
Try GMO foods. They last forever.
How does one know if the foods are GMO? keep them in your fridge for two months. They do not spoil.
BTW, How do seedless grapes and seedless watermelon reproduce?
They have seeds!
BTW: Virtually EVERY food is Genetically modified. It use to be done through cross pollination, it can now be done genetically leading to more nutritious disease and pest resistant food sources.
It always strikes me as strange that everything we eat is so bad for us, yet the instances of food born diseases and poisonings have fallen to almost an unmeasurable level.
Everything we consume is killing us, yet people are living longer and longer.
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