REcently a few doctors in an article printed in the Gold Coast bulletin made the bold statement that organic foods are no better than regular store bought foods and are more expensive. In essence they were saying there was no evidence to support paying extra for the organic food. They said there was no research that said organic was more nutritious.
Well, they should have said no research that we know of because this 2004 study is an eye opener.
Researchers at Rutgers University, intrigued by the idea that organic foods are "better", decided to shop
around for some answers. From the supermarket shelves, they purchased snap beans, cabbage, lettuce,
tomatoes and spinach. Then they bought equivalent organically grown vegetables at a health food store.
The research team analyzed the mineral content of their purchases. In every case, organic products were
superior to the non-organic produce, often by huge percentages.
Variations in Mineral Content in Vegetables Firman E. Baer Report, Rutgers University
So there you have it, this study clearly shows the increased nutrient value of organic foods. If you can buy them, I would say go for it.
Keep in mind though that unfortunately organic produce isn't completely free of pesticides and of course the nutrient value is likely to vary from soil to soil, so its still good to wash your fruits and vegetables even if they are organic and buy from a store that gets their supply from a variety of different suppliers.
