Fwd: Organically Grown Foods' High Cancer-Fightings Elements

[Guest guest]

" Misty L. Trepke " <mistytrepke wrote:To:

 

" Misty L. Trepke "

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 20:04:00 -0000

Organically Grown Foods' High Cancer-Fightings

Elements

 

 

 

Organically Grown Foods' High Cancer-Fightings Elements

 

(ANI) -- Fruits and vegetables are good for us for numerous reasons,

but researchers now emphasise that fruits and veggies that are

organically grown have higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants

than those conventionally grown, according to a report in Journal of

Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

 

The new study suggests pesticides and herbicides actually thwart the

production of phenolics - chemicals that act as a plant's natural

defense and also happen to be good for human health. Fertilizers,

however, seem to boost the levels of anti-cancer compounds.

 

Flavonoids are phenolic compounds that have potent antioxidant

activity. Many are produced in plants in response to environmental

stressors, such as insects or competing plants.

 

" If an aphid is nibbling on a leaf, the plant produces phenolics to

defend itself, " says Alyson Mitchell, Ph.D., a food scientist at the

University of California, Davis, and lead author of the

paper. " Bitter or harsh phenolics guard the plant against these

pests. "

 

The need for these natural safeguards decreases with the use of

herbicides and pesticides in conventional agriculture. This decrease

is reflected in the total amount of antioxidants the plants

produce. " This helps explain why the level of antioxidants is so

much higher in organically grown food, " Mitchell says.

 

" By synthetically protecting the produce from these pests, we

decrease their need to produce antioxidants. It suggests that maybe

we are doing something to our food inadvertently. "

 

For the study, Mitchell measured antioxidants found in corn,

strawberries and a type of blackberry called a marionberry. " We

started with these three due to plant availability, " he said, " but

we intend to widen our search to include tomatoes, peppers, broccoli

and a variety of other vegetables. We expect these results to be

transferable to most produce. "

 

The investigation compared the total antioxidants found in foods

grown organically (using no herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers)

to foods grown sustainably (in this study fertilizers but no

herbicides or pesticides were used) and conventionally (using

synthetic chemicals to protect the plants and increase yield).

 

The results showed a significant increase in antioxidants in organic

and sustainably grown foods versus conventionally grown foods. The

levels of antioxidants in sustainably grown corn were 58.5 percent

higher than conventionally grown corn. Organically and sustainably

grown marionberries had approximately 50 percent more antioxidants

than conventionally grown berries.

 

Sustainably and organically grown strawberries showed about 19

percent more antioxidants than conventionally grown strawberries.

 

Antioxidant levels were highest overall in sustainably grown

produce, which indicates that a combination of organic and

conventional practices yields the highest levels of antioxidants.

This may reflect the balance between adequate nutrition in the form

of fertilizers and external pest pressures because of the lack of

pesticides and herbicides, " Mitchell explained. (ANI)

 

 

© 2003 ANI.