Organic food might reduce heart attacks

[Guest guest]

Thursday, March 14, 2002 12:27 AM

Organic food might reduce heart attacks

 

 

> >From Aerielle Louise ;-)

> Talk Radio Network

> Mar. 14, 2002

>

> http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992033

>

> Organic food might reduce heart attacks

>

> 09:40 14 March 02

>

> Exclusive from New Scientist Print Edition

>

> Eating organic food may help reduce your risk of heart

> attacks, strokes and cancer. The finding will reignite the

> debate over its health benefits and may force regulatory

> agencies to reconsider their position.

>

> Until now there has been little scientific evidence to

> suggest that organic food is any healthier than conventional

>

> produce. The head of the British Food Standards Agency, John

>

> Krebs, has gone so far as to say it is no better. But John

> Paterson, a biochemist at Dumfries and Galloway Royal

> Infirmary, criticises Krebs for making such statements " on

> the basis of very little information " .

>

> Now Paterson and a team from the infirmary and the

> University of Strathclyde have found that organic vegetable

> soups contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as

> non-organic vegetable soups. The acid is responsible for the

>

> anti-inflammatory action of aspirin, and helps combat

> hardening of the arteries and bowel cancer.

>

> " Eating organic may be good for you, " says Paterson. " I'm

> not an evangelist for the organic food movement, but there

> was a fairly substantial difference. "

>

> Carrot and coriander

>

> The average level of salicylic acid in 11 brands of organic

> vegetable soup on sale in Britain was 117 nanograms per

> gram, compared with 20 ng/g in 24 types of non-organic soup.

>

> The highest concentration of the acid, 1040 ng/g, was found

> in carrot and coriander soup made by Simply Organic based in

>

> Bilston Glen, Scotland, while it was not detectable in four

> traditional soups made by Scottish company Baxters.

>

> Salicylic acid is produced naturally in plants as a defence

> against stress and disease. This could explain why levels

> are higher in organic vegetables, which are generally grown

> without protection from pesticides.

>

> Earlier research by Paterson's team discovered significantly

>

> higher concentrations of the acid in the blood of vegetarian

>

> Buddhist monks compared with that of meat-eaters.

>

> The Food Standards Agency now promises to study the new

> evidence. " We are aware of the suggested benefits of high

> levels of salicylic acid and will look at what the report

> has to say, " says a spokeswoman.

>

> Journal reference: European Journal of Nutrition (vol 40, p

> 289)

>

>