People who regularly eat organic food are less likely to develop cancer, particularly breast cancer and post-menopausal lymphoma
The age-old question of whether or not it is worth eating organic to protect your health from cancer risk seems to be coming to a turning point: those who often eat organic food would be 25% less likely to develop cancer. A new study that has observed thousands of French adults is ready to admit this.
A team of researchers wanted to analyze in a research study what is the association between a diet based on organic food (ie a diet less prone to contain pesticide residues) and the risk of cancer and their cohort study has in fact emerged a significant reduction in the risk of cancer among high consumers of organic food.
If a previous study had already linked a diet based for the most part on junk food to a greater risk of carcinogenic diseases, now we want to argue that, on the contrary, a higher frequency of consumption of food derived from bio is to be associated, on the contrary, with a reduced risk of cancer.
Research
The researchers studied 68,946 adult volunteers from France who provided information on how often they ate organic food, beverages and food supplements. Participants were given a score, based on the frequency with which they ate the type of food that ranged from “most of the time” to “but” or “I don’t know”.
During two follow-up appointments, one in 2009 and another in 2016, researchers followed up on cancer diagnoses (the most common being breast cancer). Other cancers observed included prostate cancer, skin cancer, colorectal cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and lymphomas.
People who reported higher organic food consumption scores were less likely to be diagnosed with cancer than the rest of the group: specifically, those who consumed organic food were 25% less likely to contract cancer. That number grew by more than half when looking at cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
This does not necessarily mean that organic food is the only reason people are less likely to develop cancer, but it is also to be found in other lifestyles or environmental factors.
The research also contradicts some of the data reported in a previous study, the Million Women Study, which linked the consumption of organic food to a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer and in general, we would like to emphasize in the research: “concerns about the risks of pesticides should not discourage the intake of conventional fruits and vegetables, especially since organic products are often expensive and inaccessible to many populations.
But it is also true that bio is increasingly affordable for everyone. While it is true that, in general, the nutritional characteristics of an organic product compared to the conventional equivalent do not change, the former still has advantages that should not be underestimated. In authentic organic products there are no GMOs or pesticide residues, whose risks to health and the environment are at the centre of increasingly in-depth research. On the other hand, do not forget that a generally balanced diet and healthy lifestyles play a key role in cancer prevention.
