12 Foods You Have to Buy Organic
The biggest study ever into organic food – a four-year EU funded project called the Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) project – found that organic food is FAR more nutritious than ordinary produce, and can help improve your health and longevity. You’re likely to hear more about this again, once they publish their findings in full, which is expected to occur by the end of this year. This study may have considerable impact, as its findings may even overturn government advice – at least in the U.K. – which currently states that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.
For example, this 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 even went so far as to say that eating organic foods can help to increase the nutrient intake of people who don’t eat the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
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. But science is catching up, making suppression of this fact more difficult to sustain.
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, including:
· 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.
What Should You Buy Organic?
Aside from the fact that organic food contains higher levels of vital nutrients, organic foods are also lower in other residues and compounds that are seriously detrimental to your health, such as herbicide- and pesticide residues.
Additionally, the use of pesticides and herbicides in conventional farming practices contaminates groundwater, ruins the soil structure and promotes erosion. They’ve also been linked to the mysterious “colony collapse disorder” that threatens pollinating honeybees around the world. With that in mind, buying or growing as much organic food as possible is not only best for your health, but for the health of the entire planet.
That said, however, certain fruits and vegetables are subjected to far heavier pesticide use than others. And with food prices rising, many are looking for ways to buy the healthiest foods possible at the lowest cost. One such way would be to focus on purchasing certain organic items, while “settling” for others that are conventionally grown.
This is where the EWG study of pesticide residue on produce really helps.
Of the 43 different fruit and vegetable categories tested, these 12 fruits and vegetables had the highest pesticide load, making them the most important to buy or grow organic:
- · Peaches
- · Apples
- · Sweet bell peppers
- · Celery
- · Nectarines
- · Strawberries
- · Cherries
- · Lettuce
- · Grapes (imported)
- · Pears
- · Spinach
- · Potatoes
Conventionally grown strawberries, in particular, were found to be highly toxic due to a poisonous blend of pesticides in a previous 2007 EU study as well.
But be VERY careful as the list above is for fruits and vegetables. Non-organic meats have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.
So if you can only buy one organic food item it should be butter. Next priority would be meats and once those are addressed, you will want to focus on the fruit and vegetable list above.
Locally-grown organics are your absolute best bet, but bear in mind that many times buying locally-grown food is your best choice even if it’s grown conventionally, as the environmental impact of shipping organic produce across the globe can cancel out many its benefits. Organic farming standards are also questionable in many parts of the world.These Conventionally-Grown Foods are Low in Pesticide Residue -- But Watch Out For GMO Varieties!
While you may have heard about the most common GMO food sources, such as corn, many people are clueless about JUST HOW MUCH of your produce is now available in GMO varieties. And, perhaps even worse, just how many deliberate GMO field trials are actually going on, all across the world. A perfect example of the repercussions of this practice can be seen in Hawaii, where non-GMO papaya seed supplies are now so seriously contaminated by GMO seeds that at least 50 percent of organic seeds test positive for GMO!
That means you have a greater than 50/50 chance of buying GMO even when buying organic Hawaiian papaya…
Although the U.S. does not require GMOs to be labeled, you can still find out whether or not your produce is genetically engineered, by looking at its PLU code. For example:
- · A conventionally grown product carries a 4-digit PLU code (Ex: conventionally grown banana: 4011)
- · An organic product carries a 5-digit code, starting with the number 9: (Ex: organic banana: 94011)
- · A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) product has a 5-digit code, starting with the number 8: (Ex: GE banana: 84011)
Here are a few other fruits that are LOW in pesticide residue, and therefore good candidates to purchase as conventionally grown, however, double-check to make sure you’re not buying a GMO variety.
- · Avocado – A new GMO avocado variety is scheduled to be introduced this year that is immune to “stress” and pests, per an Indian state report published in March, 2008.
- · Bananas – The first GMO banana with extra genes that increase its levels of pro-vitamin A and iron is being unleashed in Australian field trials this year. At Cornell University, researchers are also working to develop a banana that carries the hepatitis B vaccine.
- · Pineapple -- GMO pineapples, designed to produce greater levels of proteins, vitamins and sugars may already be on the market. Australia applied for pineapple into environment all the way back in 2002. The pineapple is called “Smooth Cayenne,” which has delayed flowering and herbicide resistance. It also contains the tobacco acetolactate synthase gene (suRB) from Nicotiana tabacum.
- · Kiwi -- The transgenic variety of kiwi fruit is the Actinidia deliciosa from Italy.
- Remember, if you can't afford to purchase all organic food, at least aim to buy produce that has a lower toxic load and is non-GMO.
Dr. Mercola is the founder of the world’s most visited natural health web site, www.mercola.com. You can learn the hazardous side effects of OTC Remedies by getting a FREE copy of his latest special report The Dangers of Over the Counter Remedies by going to his Report Page.
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Comments
Anonymous
I do not believe this tripe. Who funded the "research"? because I can promise you that it is bias even if it was started by some vegan nutjob and no I am not right wing no where near.
Anonymous
you can peel any fruit like you do with pineapples and kiwis and bananas so it's not completely loaded with pesticides too...... and that's why those fruits tested lower...... imagine that....
Anonymous
You can peel strawberries? That's interesting.
Anonymous
Transgenic Hawaiin papayas have been altered to contain a trait that makes them resistant to a very destructive virus. Essentially they have been vaccinated against this viral disease. So what? Why are you terrified of a healthy papaya plant? Do you tell people not to vaccinate their children? Would you not use medicines to treat an infection? Genetic engineering is a tool, it isn't a great evil. It depends on how it is used, so a little less paranoia woudl be nice. There are applications that may not benefit consumers or farmers, and we should avoid those, but other applications are very beneficial. Let's use a little common sense in all this, rather than dogmatic absolutes. Along those lines I was impressed that you included the cost-benefit question of buying organic produce shipped from far away versus locally grown. Making the best choices sometimes requires compromise, and that was a central point of your piece, I think that organic standards should consider that fact when the question of GMOs comes up.
Anonymous
Why are we terrified of this "healthy" papaya plant???
Did you miss the part about contaminating traditional papaya strains? Nature efficiently produces many strains of the same plant, so that an entire species of plant is not wiped off the earth from one virus, mold, fungi or parasite, and scientists are effectively creating a monoculture when vast fields are planted with a genetically modified seed. The only long term data we can get is available only after these crops have been farmed by real people. Farmers in India are going bankrupt after using monsantos GM seeds, which seemed like a godsend, they were parasite and insect resistant... for about 3 years, after which all their crops started to fail and the soil was no longer fertile. A farmer in British Columbia was sued a few years ago because open air pollination means that these experiments are not contained experiments and GM soy seeds ended up on his farm. These seeds acted like weeds, choking out his traditional crops, when he went to his neighbour, Monsanto, to find out what he was to do with these weeds, they sued him for having copyrighted plants on his property.
I could go on and on. But on top of the health implications of being unwilling guinea pigs, our eco-systems, farmers, and our dinner are all being threatened. So get your head out the sand, read a little research and you will understand.
Anonymous
Vegans are "nutjobs" because they discovered the revolutionary concept that you do not need to kill or harm other animals to live healthy lives? Usually people who attack others for living more ethically than themselves are suffering from guilt.
Anonymous
"vegan nutjobs"??? Since when did someone trying to live a healthier lifestyle and be respectful - in their own way - to life on the planet turn them into nutjobs? I'm far from a vegan myself, but have friends that are and on the whole I'd say they're healtheir than me. Probably better people as well. If you don't believe the details in this article you should at least come away from it wondering about the food we do eat and what's being done to it. Some people do get a little extreme about what they eat, but maybe there's a good reason for it?
Anonymous
This is really really useful, thank you very much. I'd love to buy everything organic but the reality is I'm on a tight budget so I just can't :-)
Cathi
Stumbler
Anonymous
Ideally I think that those people who are fortunate enough to own a house with land, ought to grow there own fruit and vegetables. They could also have apple and peach trees for example right there in their own yard. Even apartment complexes could have fruit trees. And tenants could have a little lot on the surrounding land to grow veges and fruit. The more independant and self sufficient people are the better. Relying on the government to regulate our health has proven to be rather disastrous. Children could learn how to grow food in school. They could be taught a lot more about nutrition and health as well.
John Maglovsky
I think anoymous is a nut job.
Anonymous
John Maglovsky, I think you're right about Anonymous... I think he was grown on a tree in the middle of a roof-top parking lot. He probably hung upside-down for a large portion of his early childhood and watched as cars drove round and round searching for a parking space!
Mr. Joseph Lukas
I don't believe a darn thing by anyone signing in as Anonymous. Put your name on items you comment about & if you are in the Industry you are trying to defend. I really hate people hiding behind - Anonymous.
Anonymous
I appreciate this very helpful information. I have improved a lot of health issues in my life through improving nutrition. I appreciate this common sense and factual approach. It helps me greatly.
Anonymous
I'm far from vegan, too, but take very seriously the fact that the EU countries (and even the poor Ukrainians refuse to buy it), do not allow imports of the cheap American meat products saturated with hormones and antibiotics into their countries.
I firmly beleive that they very much affect our health, i.e. lead to cancers, MRSA, etc. Just check the studies that show higher breast cancer rates in Japanese women on American junk foog diet, for one.
Everything in this country is being made, 'improved', invented, altered for the green god (not the eco one).
We, consumers, have to be wise and reject the garbage that is pushed on us daily.
Anonymous
GMO FOODS are full of toxic substances and it has never been tested on anything, so they say we are the human guinea pigs. VACCINES are the causes of neurological diseases, the more you get the more they destroy your myelin shealth in the brain. With all the toxic chemicals inside of them they are all cancer producing. TOXIC CHEMICALS injected into your body. And why must they TAMPER WITH OUR SEEDS for foods. more pesticides. herbcides must be used and the honey bees are drying NOT FROM SOME FICTIOUS VIRUS but from the toxic NICOTINE sprays the same sprays they use to KILL TERMITES WITH and the EPA found this out years ago when they asked the experts who study about insects. THE EPA refuses to stop using this POISON on our crops so this is hapening around the world so EXPECT food shortages, because of them. IS ANYONE PROTESTING THIS? NOPE. and vaccines, you all need to get EDUCATED HOAXES coming every year, http://www.whale.to/vaccine/sf... and put in a search for Eleanor McBean and another VIRUSES can not Be transferred to PEOPLE. The only way each and everyone of you can get a virus is from the VACCINES because they HAVE PUT THE VIRUSES in the VACCINES, and this SWINE FLU is not from PIGS, and it is again a HOAX just like in the 1976 SWINE FLU HOAX, so the drug makers of TAMIFLU and other so they CAN GET RICH along with JACKA DONALD RUMSFELD AND GEORGE IDIOT BUS JR. WAKE UP PEOPLE, GMO FOODS uses too many TOXIC PESTICIDES.
Anonymous
GMOs are an absolute nightmare, and Monsanto really needs to be stopped somehow.
Even if you manage to avoid the GMOs in the produce department, they are in many of your package foods.
It's too big a subject to write about here. Study it for yourself. Read about the mutated crops, and what monsanto is doing to farmers, and about red and blue plastic fibers coming out of your skin. Just some of the horrors attached to GMOs.
This was a very informative article. I'm sorry it was trashed by some commenters.
Carole - not hiding
HighEnergyEating.com
CommonSenseLiving.com
Anonymous
none of this is so hard to believe
I just make sense that organic fruits and vegetables are healthier. But keep in mind we are talking about fruits and vegetables, not hamburgers and hotdogs
andrew
barbara d
you rather believe a doctor when he tells you to take
a toxic medisin,but have doubts about orgainic fruit.
what a shame
Anonymous
Sorry to seem silly but, what is GMO please?
Don Matthews
GMO = Genetically MOdified.
joe martin
yo guys i have a tomato bush and my tomatos are yellow is this usually our are they dieing?
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