“Does organic food really help prevent cancer?”
Whether you are hoping to avoid cancer or treat it successfully…
As you may know, the food you eat plays a significant role in your treatment plan.
When it comes to cancer and food choices, most people know that you’re better off avoiding super-processed and “junk” foods as much as possible.
That includes packaged foods with long lists of ingredients that you can’t pronounce and the fatty, sugary treats that come in most fast foods.
When people try to improve their diet, they often try to eat more “fresh food.” Most times, this means eating more produce.
But then that raises a question:
Do I need to buy organic or not?
You may wonder if organic fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat products are that much better for you.
Or if it’s worth the investment.
Do organic foods actually help to prevent cancer in any way?
Well, actually, yes.
There is more and more evidence that eating organic foods helps to decrease the risk of cancer. Even further, foods that aren’t organic can increase the potential for cancer.
Just two years ago, a study was put out by a group of French researchers that reviewed more than 70,000 people over the course of 5 years.
The study was powerful because of the large pool of people pulled from, and extensive time over which data was collected.
They found that people who ate mostly organic foods had 25% fewer diagnoses of cancer. People who did not eat organic had a higher risk.
These researchers reported that breast cancer and lymphoma incidents were especially low, though they do not yet understand why.
Though continued research is essential, when you consider the ways organic foods forbid the use of harsh chemicals like pesticides and herbicides, it begins to make sense.
Within the same study, researchers noted:
“A recent review concluded that the role of pesticides for the risk of cancer could not be doubted given the growing body of evidence linking cancer development to pesticide exposure.”
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer acknowledged that pesticides are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) for humans.
Pesticides and herbicides are harmful not just as toxins your body has to deal with and attempt to flush out…
But also due to the damage, they do to your cells and even your DNA. These chemicals affect how your cells form and, ultimately, how they perform.
Additionally, they can act as a switch that turns on and off genetic triggers that may be in your genes (epigenetic consequences).
Suppose specific genes are turned off or on.
In that case, you could become more susceptible to certain diseases that otherwise wouldn’t have been triggered.
In the same way, it could make you less able to overcome something because your immune system (or any other system in your body) becomes too weak.
Every day we learn more about how frequently we are exposed to pesticides and herbicides through water, air, and the food chain.
A 2018 European Food Safety Authority report stated:
“44% of conventionally produced food samples contained 1 or more quantifiable residues [of pesticides].”
And food in Europe is known for standards that are much better quality than the US.
In fact, according to a 2018 report from the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA),
“Over 99 percent of the products sampled through PDP (Pesticide Data Program) had residues”.
Experts have found pesticides in the urine of people from all ways of life around the globe… And even in newborn babies!
And yet, pesticides are only half of the problem.
Herbicides are also a major concern and banned in organic foods, which are chemicals used to kill plants.
Commercially, herbicides are usually used to prevent weeds from over-growing and affecting a crop.
The most famous of these plant-killing chemicals is glyphosate--the main ingredient in RoundUp.
There have been thousands of lawsuits against the makers of RoundUp, concerning glyphosate causing cancer.
There is no question about how widespread pesticides and herbicides are and the damage they can do.
The bottom line seems to be that if you want to do all you can to avoid cancer, you will include organic foods wherever possible.
BUT…
There is even more to the study held by the researchers in France. Their results showed that just eating more organic food wasn’t enough.
They saw that cancer risks are higher if your main diet still contains mainly low-quality or even medium-quality foods...
It wasn’t enough to eat a few organic items sometimes and eat a diet full of sugars, fats, unhealthy calories, and chemicals the rest of the time.
These people in the study had just as high a risk of all cancers as those that never ate organic.
The GMO Debate
One distinction of truly organic foods is that they cannot be grown from genetically modified seeds, which would make them genetically modified organisms, GMOs...
Foods that have been modified in such a way that when you spray them with toxic pesticides and herbicides, they will not die.
The weeds and pests die, the plant does not.
So if you eat GMO foods, you are definitely consuming toxic chemicals, too.
Similarly, certain pesticides are used to ripen or protect crops after harvest. GMO crops are often heavily sprayed to speed up ripening.
Such treatments can also prevent early rot or other decay that can happen during processing and transport.
Right now there isn’t enough evidence to say that GMOs increase cancer risks. However, knowing that the risks of cancer are lowered by up to 25% by eating organic — foods that are NOT GMOs—you have to wonder.
It might be a case of safer than sorry if nothing else.
And, of course, by choosing organic you know you won’t be consuming so many toxic chemicals, like glyphosate!
Practical Takeaways
Considering all the above, it really is a shame that organic foods are usually so much more expensive than non-organic.
Luckily this is changing in some parts of North America.
These days you can often find a bunch of organic bananas for the same price or even lower than non-organic bananas.
As people shift to make organic a priority in their lifestyle, more and more producers are popping up, helping bring the cost down.
Whatever the case may be where you live, the question of whether it’s worth the investment comes down to you.
While your budget may be a very real consideration, when in doubt, it may help to think about this:
Is it in my best interest to spend more on this now (and less on something else) or possibly pay far more in healthcare and medications later?
The answer will be unique to you, but we have a few tips to help get you started:
- Think beyond produce. It’s not just fruit and veggies you need to consider. It’s meat, tofu, spices, herbs, and even supplements. Choose organic products whenever you can.
- Avoid the “Dirty Dozen.” These are 12 foods that absorb and contain high amounts of pesticides when not organic:
1. Strawberries
2. Spinach
3. Kale
4. Nectarines
5. Apples
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes
11. Celery
12. Potatoes
These are foods that you should always try to buy in certified organic form.
- Focus on the “Clean 15”. The following fruits and veggies do not seem to absorb pesticides in the same way as those above:
1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn*
3. Pineapple
4. Onions
5. Papaya
6. Sweet peas (frozen)
7. Eggplants
8. Asparagus
9. Cauliflower
10. Cantaloupes
11. Broccoli
12. Mushrooms
13. Cabbage
14. Honeydew melon
15. Kiwifruit
If you have a lean budget, choosing from this list is helpful. However…
*It’s important to note that this list above includes corn. Unfortunately, corn is one of the most common foods grown from GMO seeds.
So, even though it may not absorb as many chemicals as other plants, if you are trying to avoid GMOs, you may want to curb your corn cravings.
- Know your GMOs. Corn, cotton (for oil), soybeans, canola (for oil), squash, zucchini, and papaya are popular GMOs.
- Choose grass-finished meat. Grass-fed meat does not mean it’s organic. Grass-fed can mean that for some portion of an animal’s life it was fed grass.
The length of time is not determined. Normally at the end of their lives, grass-fed animals are fattened up on regular, GMO-filled feed. Grass for a time. GMO-feed for a time.
On the other hand, grass-finished are animals that are ONLY fed grass. This is the best type of animal protein to look for.
- Choose certified glyphosate free. Some companies are so dedicated to the cleanliness of their products that they are having them third-party tested to prove that they are free of one of the most common (and deadly) herbicides - glyphosate.
“Glyphosate free” is a great option if you want to have the cleanest foods and products, possible.
The bottom line:
YES! Organic foods can make a difference in preventing cancer. Do your best when choosing foods, seasonings, and even supplements you are going to consume…
And remember that it’s important to have an all-around healthy diet to really take full advantage of the benefits that organic products can offer.
I hope you have enjoyed this Cancer Answer.
Stay tuned for another Cancer Answer tomorrow  . |
