Article: Tests Show Lab Rats Thrive on Organic Food

[Guest guest]

Yep,

 

I feed my little lab rats (a.k.a. the children) as much organic food as

I can, so they'll thrive

 

*Smile*

Chris

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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Tests Show Lab Rats Thrive on Organic Food

 

 

>From <http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm>

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm

Fri 18 Feb 2005

 

The Scotsman (UK)

Rats 'Healthier' on Organic Diet

 

By Tom Wilkinson, PA

 

A team of scientists found rats fed on

organic food were slimmer, slept

better and had stronger immune systems than

others fed on

conventionally-grown produce, it emerged today.

 

The controversial findings are likely to

re-start the debate over whether

organic food is more beneficial for humans,

or if as some have said, it is

an expensive alternative which has no effect

on health.

 

In the past scientists have found it

difficult to prove whether an organic

diet was beneficial, as health is influenced

by many factors.

 

A team from the Danish Institute of

Agricultural Sciences, aided by a

Newcastle University scientist, experimented

on 36 rats, feeding one group

organic food, another conventionally grown

food, with high levels of

fertiliser and some pesticide, and a third

group were minimally-fertilised

food.

 

All the rats were given potatoes, carrots,

peas, green kale, apples and

rapeseed oil and the level of nutrients was

monitored to make sure they were

the same for each group.

 

They were also given the same vitamin

supplements and all were reported to

have thrived during the experiment.

 

Pesticide residue was also measured and found

to be below detection levels

in all groups.

 

Yet the scientists found that the rats fed

organically-produced food were

measurably healthier, in that they slept

better, had stronger immune systems

and were less obese.

 

Dr Kirsten Brandt, of Newcastle University¹s

School of Agriculture, who

last week published findings that carrots

contained a cancer-fighting

chemical, helped her Danish colleagues devise

the experiment.

 

She was careful not to overstate the

findings, explaining that the team

could not explain why the organic food, with

the same nutrients as the

conventionally-farmed produce, seemed to be

healthier for rats.

 

She said: ³The difference was so big that it

is very unlikely to be random.

 

³But we don¹t know if they slept better

because they were less stressed and

had a better immune system.

 

³These things may be related or independent.

 

³We gave the food to the rats and then we

measured what they were doing. If

we want to understand how and why, we need

another study.²

 

She added: ³We can say the reason why the

rats have different health was

clearly due to the fact that there was a

different growing method, and this

was enough for this result.²

 

 

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[Guest guest]

DUH! Well, I'm glad it's official.

I guess some people can't believe the sun comes

up in the morning until they hear it proclaimed

as truth from up on high.

 

This sort of experiment, proving what to most

of us is obvious, reminds me of a serious article

in Psychology Today, years ago.

 

Some bright minds had gone to great lengths

to prove that rich people had less stress in their

lives because they did not have to worry

about money.

 

Ien in the Kootenays

*****************************

You ought to be Thankful,

a Whole Heaping Lot

for the places and people

you're lucky you're not!

~Dr Seuss

who is this Kootenay person anyway?

http://www.greatestnetworker.com/is/ien

******************************