Myth of organic food revealed
Source: Agencies |
May 26, 2010, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CONSUMERS who opt for organic foods often believe they are improving health but there is no strong evidence that organics bring nutrition-related benefits, according to a new research review.
A "disappointingly small" number of well-designed studies have looked at whether organic foods may have health benefits beyond their conventional counterparts, according to the review by researchers with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Health in Britain.
Moreover, they found, what studies have been done have largely focused on short-term effects of organic eating - mainly antioxidant activity in the body - rather than longer-term health outcomes.
Most of the antioxidant studies failed to find differences between organic and conventional diets.
The review, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (http://www.ajcn.org/), adds to findings reported last year by the same research team.
In that study, researchers combed through 162 articles published in scientific literature over the past 50 years and found no evidence that organic and conventional foods differ significantly.
For this review, researchers were able to find only 12 published studies that met criteria for evaluating the health effects of organic foods.
"A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and quality of studies," wrote Dr Alan Dangour and his colleagues.
Research in the area did appear to be increasing, Dangour's team noted, with four of the 12 studies they reviewed published in 2008 or 2009.
The researchers said studies - both in humans and animals - needed to be better-designed.
Of the 12 studies the researchers identified, six were short-term clinical trials that looked at whether specific organic foods changed markers of antioxidant activity in participants' blood.
The trials showed no strong evidence that organic eating boosted antioxidant activity.
But the studies were very limited in scope as they were small - with the largest including 43 men - and lasted no longer than a few weeks.
Out of the other six studies, one found an association between organic foods and a lower risk of eczema among nearly 2,800 Dutch children aged two or younger.
In that study, parents were surveyed several times about their children's diet and any episodes of eczema.
A "disappointingly small" number of well-designed studies have looked at whether organic foods may have health benefits beyond their conventional counterparts, according to the review by researchers with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Health in Britain.
Moreover, they found, what studies have been done have largely focused on short-term effects of organic eating - mainly antioxidant activity in the body - rather than longer-term health outcomes.
Most of the antioxidant studies failed to find differences between organic and conventional diets.
The review, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (http://www.ajcn.org/), adds to findings reported last year by the same research team.
In that study, researchers combed through 162 articles published in scientific literature over the past 50 years and found no evidence that organic and conventional foods differ significantly.
For this review, researchers were able to find only 12 published studies that met criteria for evaluating the health effects of organic foods.
"A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and quality of studies," wrote Dr Alan Dangour and his colleagues.
Research in the area did appear to be increasing, Dangour's team noted, with four of the 12 studies they reviewed published in 2008 or 2009.
The researchers said studies - both in humans and animals - needed to be better-designed.
Of the 12 studies the researchers identified, six were short-term clinical trials that looked at whether specific organic foods changed markers of antioxidant activity in participants' blood.
The trials showed no strong evidence that organic eating boosted antioxidant activity.
But the studies were very limited in scope as they were small - with the largest including 43 men - and lasted no longer than a few weeks.
Out of the other six studies, one found an association between organic foods and a lower risk of eczema among nearly 2,800 Dutch children aged two or younger.
In that study, parents were surveyed several times about their children's diet and any episodes of eczema.
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