Can organic foods really reduce the risk of cancer?

New study says people who consume organic foods tend to reduce their cancer risk by 25% – but what does this study really tell us?

The research, conducted by French scientists using public and government funds, examined data on the health of 68,946 French adults, the majority of whom were women aged 40. The study examined which foods the participants ate and how often they ate organic products.

During the follow-up period of the study, which varied for each participant but extended to approximately four and a half years for the most part, 1,340 cancer cases were identified. The highest rate was for breast cancer, but prostate cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were also statistically significant.

The researchers found that the group that consumed the most organic food had 25% fewer cases of cancer than those who ate the least. This is a big difference and the researchers were surprised that the numbers are so low. Participants who consumed the most organic foods were 73% less likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, while they were also 21% less likely to develop breast cancer.

These results are impressive and led the researchers to conclude: "A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduction in the risk of cancer. Although the results of the study should be confirmed, promoting the consumption of organic foods in the general population could be a promising prevention strategy against cancer. "

This study is a large-scale cohort study representative of the population. It is reasonably well designed and seems to give us valuable information about Something surrounding the potential health benefits of adopting a biological diet. You will notice that I did not specifically say "eat organic" and this is for a major reason:

The study does not prove that organic foods reduce the risk of cancer.

Unfortunately, while the study is impressive in scope, it can not be said that organic foods reduce cancer rates.

Although researchers have found that even people who eat less healthily but still eat organic products tend to have lower cancer rates, research does not prove that it is organic products that provide this benefit. Rather, it shows that people who are sufficiently conscious of the diet for choosing organic versus non-organic products seem to be ahead of the game in cancer prevention.

It's not so shocking. We know that these habits rarely occur in a vacuum. It is therefore likely that people who choose organic products are more aware of their general health and take action – such as eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and exercising – to maximize their well-being. be. being. While these habits offer some protection against cancer, it is not necessarily organic food itself, but rather the role it could play in a healthy lifestyle.

That said, another large-scale study of organic foods in this way revealed no significant reduction in cancer rates in general, with the exception of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. This discovery means that these last searches can actually focus on something, but that does not confirm it.

For discussion purposes, let's say we have to buy organic foods that reduce the risk of cancer. If so, and it's a big "if", it's probably not because of the nutritional profile of the food, which studies tend to show as comparable to conventional products. The most likely culprit would be pesticides. Even here, however, we must pay attention to our conclusions.

Testing pesticide levels and their relationship to cancer

Other research has hypothesized that organic products might be better for us because, by their nature, they should avoid the majority of pesticides. Research has confirmed that people who consume organic products tend to have lower levels of pesticides in their urine. But a big piece of the puzzle is missing: we still have to directly associate trace elements of pesticides in our food with an increased risk of cancer.

Farmer groups that support pesticides report decades of studies claiming that pesticides are safe and that the actual public exposure is low. In fact, much independent research supports the fact that minute amounts of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers pose no risk to human health and, crucial to our needs, are not actually carcinogenic.

If you smell a but, you would be right.

It is essential to recognize the above, but some researchers have pointed out that these earlier studies had a major blind spot: the frequency with which pesticides are commonly used. Few studies have examined pesticide exposure at the same rate as we currently know it. Therefore, although the exposure to the very small amount of pesticides in each product we consume is almost definitely safe, we still need to understand the cumulative effects of our now ubiquitous use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

For example, the World Health Organization notes that cumulative exposures for children in rural areas actually exceed the safety limits set by the World Health Organization for pesticides, which means that we need to be aware of exposure through diet and contamination of water. At the very least, we know that health problems worsen at the most extreme levels that rural communities are exposed to.

Obviously, more research is needed on this very important topic. At this point, the main thing for us, consumers, is probably something we already know: having a healthy and balanced diet and being aware of our choices – whether it involves eating organic foods or not – is likely to reduce our risk of cancer. . The jury may not have discussed the benefits of organic foods as a cancer prevention tool yet, but healthy eating has already been proven.

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