You are what you eat; this has never been truer after researchers discovered the benefits of consuming organic foods. A new study conducted by the researchers at Washington University found that organic-eaters are exposed to far fewer pesticides. How do they know? They took urine samples.
The study was done with more than 4400 people – the largest of its kind. By observing their diet and what they are exposed to, researchers found that conventional produce eaters had double the levels compared with organic produce eaters.
But not everyone agrees. Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in Pharmacology at the University of Adelaide argues that those that consumed conventional produce are still well below the safety level in regards to pesticide consumption. If you were to eat mostly or only organic produce, you may excrete less pesticide but you are putting yourself at a higher risk of having more pesticide metabolites in your body.
The Organic Food Movement
Since 2008, the organic industry has boomed – growing at 15.4% per annum. The industry is now worth $1.72 billion! It is a very hard industry to penetrate – it has very strict guidelines and the slightest infringement can cause issues (check our previous post regarding organic labelling here). With people being more aware of things like pesticide, many are choosing organic over conventional. However, it is to your digression. Both sides raised good points about the consumption of organic food – I will not tell you which on to consume.
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