A study by French researchers reveals that consuming organic food regularly would be beneficial for health, since it would reduce the risk of cancer by up to 25%.
While 81 harmful chemicals are found every day in children’s meals, eating organic would have many advantages. A new study, published in the JAMA Internal Medicine this Monday, October 22, demonstrates the benefits on our health: a regular consumption of organic food would reduce the risk of cancer by 25%. In question: the less frequent presence of pesticide residues and at lower doses in ingredients from organic farming, compared to those from conventional farming.
The study was conducted by researchers from the research center in Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité, comprising Inra, Inserm, the University of Paris 13 and the CNAM. It was carried out based on the analysis of data from 68,946 participants. The frequency of consumption of organic or conventional foods – never, from time to time, most of the time – was asked of them for 16 different food groups, and this for seven years. During this period, 1,340 new cases of cancer were recorded in medical records.
Focus on foods least exposed to pesticides
And it turns out that a 25% decrease in cancer risk has been observed in “regular” consumers of organic foods compared to more “occasional” consumers. The drop is even 34% for breast cancer in postmenopausal women, or 76% for lymphomas. Several hypotheses are raised by scientists to explain these figures, in particular the presence of fewer pesticides but also potentially higher levels of certain micronutrients (carotenoid antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamin C or more beneficial fatty acid profiles) in organic foods. .
According to previous research, consumers of organic food eat healthier foods, smoke less and exercise more regularly. In order not to distort the results, socio-demographic conditions, diet, lifestyle or family history were thus taken into account. But these risk factors ultimately did not change the analysis of the researchers.
These findings need to be confirmed by further research, they explain. They nevertheless maintain the recommendations of the High Council of Public Health (HCSP), which suggests “Favor foods grown according to production methods that reduce exposure to pesticides for fruits and vegetables, legumes and whole grain products”.
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