Some nutritional studies have blasted organic produce, claiming that they are a waste of money, since their nutritional value isn't significantly greater than conventional produce. Those critics totally miss the point. The major advantages of organic produce are reducing toxic pesticides and avoiding GMOs.
According to a study conducted by researchers from RMIT University in Australia and published in the Journal Environmental Research on April 29, 2014, just one week on a diet composed mostly (but not entirely) of organic foods can reduce adults' exposure to pesticides by an astonishing 90%!
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Neurotoxin Exposure Plummets
A number of studies have concentrated on the effect of organic diets on reducing the pesticide exposure in children. Children have developing bodies, which can be more susceptible to pesticides. This new study is the first published research on adults. The researchers randomly assigned 13 adults to eat a diet composed of at least 80% organic food or at least 80% "conventional" food (produced using pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and genetically modified organisms). After seven days, all participants were switched to the other diet for another week. Urine samples were taken the day after the conclusion of each diet intervention.
Participants' urine was tested for six different chemicals in the family known as dialkylphosphates (DAPs), which are produced as the body attempts to break down organophosphate pesticides.
"Conventional food production commonly uses organophosphate pesticides, which are neurotoxins that act on the nervous system of insects - and humans - by blocking an important enzyme," Dr. Oates said.
"Recent studies have raised concerns for the health effects of these chemicals, even at relatively low levels."
The researchers found that participants' urinary DAP levels were 89% lower after a week on a mostly organic diet than after a week on a mostly conventional diet.
“This study is an important first step in expanding our understanding about the impact of an organic diet," Oates said. The researchers are now working on a follow-up study.
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Other Ways To Cut Exposure
You can also dramatically reduce your toxin exposure by adopting a mostly vegetarian diet, particularly if you also eat mostly organic foods or avoid the Dirty Dozen. According to a 2010 study, people living in a Buddhist temple for five days and adopting the lifestyle of the monks there (including eating a meat-free diet) experienced dramatic drops in traces of both antibiotics and phthalates in their urine.
Phthalates are common ingredients in pesticides, as well as in many soft plastics. They are proven endocrine disruptors and may cause disruption to the reproductive, nervous and other bodily systems. Antibiotics are widely used in animal agriculture as growth-promoting agents.
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