In order to fully understand if organic food is better than non-organic food – we first need to understand what we are defining as ‘better’.
If you’re a single-parent household with 4 or 5 children to feed and a very tight budget, switching to organic food might mean you have to restrict the amount of food you buy – since it’s almost always more expensive than non-organic.
And if this restricts you to the point of not being able to provide enough calories and nutrients to yourself and your family, then going organic is NOT a better option.
So, how are we defining ‘better’ for the purposes of this post?
Well, reverting back to that example of someone being financially restricted – if organic items were actually MORE nutritious than non-organic, it would compensate for buying and eating less.
So, the key thing we’ll be looking at in this article is how nutrient profiles in like-for-like food items, differ between organic and non-organic. And beyond this, if there’s any additional health benefits to eating organic food, beyond nutritional values – things like, does eating only organic food reduce your risk of cancer and how do chemical residue levels compare between organic and non-organic foods.
So without further ado – let’s get started.
In 2014, after two medical reviews concluded that there were no significant differences in nutrient values between organic and non-organic foods, a further review was undertaken titled ‘Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses’ which focused primarily on the variance in antioxidant content between organic and non-organic foods.
This review, based on 343 peer-reviewed publications, concluded that polyphenolics were found to be in much higher concentrations in organic food vs non-organic food. With phenolic acids, flavanones, stilbenes, flavones, flavanols, and anthocyanins (all of which have been linked to the reduced risk of chronic diseases such as certain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases) found to be, on average, 40.5% higher in organic foods vs non-organic foods.
In addition to this, the same review discovered that pesticide residues on non-organic foods were 4 times higher than those of organic foods – which led to a significant increase in the presence of the highly-toxic metal Cadmium in non-organic foods. Cadmium has strong links to the incidence of various cancers and other chronic diseases.
An earlier study in 2003, titled ‘Comparison of the total phenolic and ascorbic acid content of freeze-dried and air-dried marionberry, strawberry, and corn grown using conventional, organic, and sustainable agricultural practices’ similarly concluded that organic berries and corn had far higher concentrations of antioxidants than their non-organic counterparts.
Additionally, this study also concluded that when these items are freeze-dried, as opposed to air-dried, the concentration of antioxidants remained even higher – proposing that a combination of organic and freeze-dried foods (at least in regard to particular berries and corn), led to an optimum preservation and delivery of antioxidant levels.
During my research, I did find one review that extended beyond the comparison of antioxidants alone and provided evidence that overall micronutrient profiles differed between organic and non-organic foods. This 2011 review, titled ‘Evaluation of the micronutrient composition of plant foods produced by organic and conventional agricultural methods’, screened 66 studies, and condensed this to 33 studies out of the 66, which were found to consider cultivar, harvesting and soil conditions in their study parameters.
In other words, this was a balanced and heavily considered review which aimed to improve the accuracy of the conclusion by including only the highest-quality studies.
The review concluded that total micronutrient content, expressed as a percent difference, was 5.7% higher in organic foods than in non-organic foods. So, all-in-all, a fairly marginal difference.
I could find no conclusive studies that showed significant differences in the macronutrient profiles of organic vs non-organic foods.
So in summary, there does appear to be a difference in nutrient profile between organic and non-organic foods – this difference is far more significant in regards to antioxidants, with a potential small variance in micronutrients (ie vitamins and minerals), and no known difference in macronutrient (ie protein, fat, carbohydrates etc) or calorie provision.
So there you have it – based on the scientific evidence currently available, there does appear to be a difference in the nutrient profile between organic and non-organic foods. Whether you deem these differences to be significant enough to switch to organic foods, depends on your personal circumstances.
Macronutrients appear to be very similar, meaning you can’t really justify a reduction in food volume to be offset by the fact that you are consuming organic. Plus, the marginal difference in micronutrient profiles is not significant enough to offset the relative increase in expenditure from switching to organic from non-organic – micronutrients were shown to be just 5.7% higher in organic foods, but the average price difference between organic and non-organic foods is around 10-20% higher for organic.
That said, when it comes to antioxidant levels, it’s a whole different story – and the difference between organic and non-organic foods becomes very significant. This, alongside the increase in cadmium levels found in non-organic foods, suggests that switching to organic foods could – by virtue of the proven links between cadmium intake and chronic diseases, and the evidence that exists to show that antioxidants can protect you from those same diseases – put you at a lower risk of encountering certain chronic diseases.
So, as with most things, it really comes down to your personal circumstances and preferences.
Bear in-mind also, that foods certified as organic, are not always necessarily healthy foods. They can still be highly processed and contain unhealthy ingredients like cane sugar or a high level of saturated fat. Just because something is certified organic, it doesn’t necessarily make it healthy – and these unhealthy, processed foods and ingredients are similarly linked to chronic disease. So, if you’re thinking of switching to organic to be healthier, do so with this in-mind and be conscious of the purchase decisions you make.
Similarly, if you decide that going organic isn’t accessible to you at this point in-time, you can probably decrease your risk profile from chronic disease in a similar fashion, just by being more mindful of the non-organic food purchases you make – steering clear of highly processed foods and foods with high levels of unhealthy ingredients.
If you’re concerned about pesticide residues or the pesticide content of your food supplements (whether they are certified organic, or not – you’d be surprised!), check out our food supplement pesticide testing service.