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Carlee Austin
Professor Salgat
English 111-24
November 8, 2014

Organic Foods Can Boost Longevity

Organic health has been a controversial topic in recent news. People believe that organic
foods are just as healthy and good as conventional foods. When a consumer goes to the grocery
store they just think that organic is a new kind of food and that it is more expensive. In reality
there are differences between organic and conventional foods other than there price. Organic
foods have health benefits that people are overlooking. Organic has health benefits that can
improve someones health majorly. With the entire new health craze about eating an organic diet
and all the celebrities going organic, new research has been coming out. Nutrition is the biggest
highlight in all the research and debates going on today. Conventional and organic foods are
starting to become political and people are starting to wonder what actually is better. Organic
foods have more health benefits than conventional foods.
Pesticide use in the United States has become an increasing process in farming. The
United States alone uses 1.2 billion pounds of pesticides per year (Crinnion). This is only in
conventional farming however. Fewer pesticides to none are used during the process of growing
organic produce. With using fewer pesticides, the organic produce has less pesticide residue than
conventional foods. Organic has one-third the amount of chemical residue than conventional

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foods (Crinnion). When vegetables were tested for insecticides, researchers took non-organic and
conventional vegetables and compared the percentage of residue. 65% of the conventional
vegetables had the residue, while only 23% of organic vegetables had the residue (Crinnion).
Pesticides stay in fruits and vegetables even after going through all the cleaning processes. The
pesticides get absorbed through the skins and are in the fruits and vegetables even after washing
them at home too. A good way to help get as much residue off as possible is to cut a thin layer of
the skin. By cutting off a thin layer of the skin, the amount of pesticide residue is cut by a small
percentage. If a consumer has ever
wondered what fruits and vegetables have
more residue then the others they are in
luck. Researchers invented a list called
The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen
category for fruits and vegetables. This
means there are twelve fruits and
vegetables that contain higher
percentages of pesticide residue and
fifteen that have the lowest residue
amounts. When buying fruits and vegetables, consumers will want to buy them organic rather
than conventional. They will want to buy them organically because the organic version has
less pesticide residue than the conventional version. Figure 1 shows the twelve dirty and
fifteen clean fruits and vegetables. The worse of the dirty dozen are apples, celery and
strawberries. These three fruits and vegetables that a consumer eats on a daily basis contain the
highest amount of pesticide use and should be bought organic and not conventional. While the

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clean fifteen shows the lowest pesticide use. The top three fruits and vegetables for the clean
fifteen are onions, corn and pineapples. By using figure 1, consumers can get a better concept on
why they need to buy fruits and vegetables organic rather than conventional. Buying them
organically will reduce pesticide residue and reduces health risk that come with the use of
pesticides in foods.
When conventional farmers use pesticides and herbicides they use synthetic ones instead
of natural (Williams). Synthetic pesticides do not function right in the human body, instead they
do harm. Pesticides cause multiple health problems in people. The health problems do not cause
symptoms right away, but after long term exposure to the pesticides, health problems will arise.
When pesticides are digesting from food, the pesticides sit in the colon and slowly poison the
body (Jakuboski). The example that was given is when a person eats an apple that is
conventional they digest up to thirty different pesticides (Jakuboski). Health problems that can
arise from prolong exposure to pesticides are: cancer, nervous system disorders, genetic
mutations, birth defects, miscarriages and even death (Williams). This is why buying organic
foods is so important. Especially during pregnancy the mother wants to be careful on what she
eats. The mother needs to be careful because pesticides can cause genetic mutations during
pregnancy and the mutations can harm the fetus severely. The same rules apply for mothers who
are breast feeding. The pesticides the mother is eating can be given to the baby during breast
feeding and can harm the baby (ToxFAQ's). To reduce the amount of pesticide take in,
consumers needs to buy organic. Not only will health be improved majorly but longevity and
fertility will be improved from eating organic (Tate). This finding was from a study on fruit flies.
One group of flies was given organic food, while the other group was given conventional. The
group that was given the organic did far better when tested in the areas of health, longevity and

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fertility (Tate). Who does not want to live longer and have a higher chance of having kids? By
eating an organic diet the health risk that are associated with pesticides and conventional foods
are reduced majorly.
One area that researchers discovered is conventional crops has a higher percentage of
nitrogen in their soil and crops (Charles). Organic crops have less nitrate levels because of the
strict pesticide guidelines. Nitrogen in the soil causes big problems for the environment and
affects every day living. The main reason why there is a higher nitrogen percentage in
conventional foods is because of the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers (Charles). One of these
problems is nitrogen runoff (Charles). Nitrogen runoff is when the nitrogen in the soil gets into
our water system and our fresh water supplies. This causes the fresh water supply to become
contaminated with nitrogen and the water is not safe to drink. Nitrogen runoff can even affect the
fish we eat. When the fish are living and breathing in contaminated waters, the nitrogen gets into
their body systems and stays there (Charles). Then when fish is sold and consumed the nitrogen
and other chemicals from the runoff gets into our body systems. Nitrate intake (nitrogen) can be
a serious problem in human health. A health problem that can arise from too much nitrate intake
is methemoglobinemia, and it is a serious health problem (ToxFAQ's). Methemoglobinemia
causes the nervous system to get depressed and gets weakened over time. If methemoglobinemia
gets to the severe stage death can be a result (ToxFAQ's). A way to reduce the risk of getting this
disorder is to monitor drinking water for contamination and be proactive when buying fruits and
vegetables. Refer back to figure 1 and remember which fruits and vegetables are the dirtiest. The
dirty dozen are the ones that are going to have the higher nitrate level. Organic crops have less
nitrate levels than conventional (Charles). Scientist has said that fertilizers that have nitrogen are

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overused by 30% to 60% (Charles). If the farmers of conventional farms would use less
fertilizer the impact on nitrites on humans and our environment would be reduced.
Most foods we eat today, that are conventional have a lack of nutrients because of all the
added preservatives and food modifiers. Conventional foods are over-processed too much. When
foods get over-processed the food loses the amount of nutrition it first had before getting
processed (Williams). During food processing foods get too much refined sugars and white flour.
Refined sugar is pure carbohydrates which has no nutritional value besides calories (Williams).
When wheat gets processed to white flour, there are at least twenty-two essential nutrients that
are removed (Williams). These include B vitamins, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, calcium,
and vitamin E. Organic foods do not go through the over-processed system like conventional
foods. The NOP or National Organic Program has strict guidelines for organic farmers and how
they process the food. Organic farmers cannot use additives, food modifiers or food fillers when
processing their food. Everything has to be how the food comes naturally and not what the food
industry or farmers want. Organic foods have been found to have more nutrition than
conventional foods. The nutrition difference between conventional and organic is the mineral
and vitamin difference. Organic foods have more amounts of minerals and vitamins. The four
main nutrients that had a higher percentage in organic foods are ascorbic acid, iron, magnesium,
and phosphorus. Ascorbic acid averaged 27% higher, iron 21% higher, magnesium 29% higher
and phosphorus 13.6% higher (Crinnion). Having a higher amount of minerals and vitamins in
our foods is so important. Theses higher amounts help improve not only the quality of the food
but the nutritional value of the food. The best way to get vitamins and minerals is through food.
But conventional foods are losing their nutritional value every day from being over-processed.

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That is why organic is becoming so popular. Organic has all the nutrients in the food still and has
the best value in quality.
Heart disease is a disease that no one wants to be diagnosed with. Heart disease is in the
top three categories of how people die. But did you know that milk can be a contributing factor
to getting heart disease? Milk has two types of fatty acids in it; they are omega-6 fatty acid and
omega-3 fatty acid (organic milk). Omega-6 is the worse of the two fatty acids. Milk should have
a higher ratio of omega-3 fats to omega-6 fats (organic milk). Conventional milk contains a ratio
of 5.8 ( omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids) which is more than double the amount of what organic
milk contains (organic milk). Organic milk has a ratio of 2.3, which is good. The lower the ratio
of omega-6 fatty acid to omega-3 fat the better. The lower ratio will reduce the risk for heart
disease and other disease like cancer from happening. Omega-3 fatty acids are so important to
have in milk because they are heart healthy and support the heart. The reason for organic milk to
have lower ratios of omega-6 fatty acid is because of how the cows are fed. The organic cows
diet has to be all natural and they have to consume more pasture based food (organic milk). But
the conventional cow can have food enhancers and food fillers or modifiers in their diet. When
looking at milk in the market make sure to choose organic over conventional. The organic milk
will help reduce the risk of heart disease and will improve overall health.
On the other hand critics believe conventional food is better. They think the research on
nutrition is misleading and shows no significant difference between conventional and organic
(Holtzman). When farmers are growing the same crop, it does not matter if they are conventional
or organic, the crop will have the same amount of nutrition. The nutrition does not go down
when using a certain kind of method (Holtzman). Another key topic critics go against is
pesticide residue. Pesticide residue is on all crops including organic. Organic farms have

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pesticide residue in the soil they are using because pesticide compounds brake down into the soil
and stay there for a few years (Crinnion). Along with pesticide residue, critics believe pesticides
do not cause any health problems. Crops have very low pesticide residue and it would have to
take a decent amount a few time for the pesticides to have any effect at all (Crinnion). People
who live near farm fields that spray pesticides and the farmer who do the spraying are the people
who are at a greater risk of getting health problems from pesticides than people who eat the crops
(Crinnion).
However this is not the case. Organic foods have more health benefits than conventional
foods. The decrease in pesticide use is a big difference. Conventional farmers can use pesticides
in various amounts that improve the crops but do not have a benefit for humans. The pesticides
cause health problems that are dangerous (Crinnion). Phytonutrients are compounds that are
found in fruits and vegetables that have very important nutrients. The nutrients that are in
phytonutrients are carotenoids, flavonoids and other polyphenols (Crinnion). Carotenoids are
very important to have in a diet. Carotenoids have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.
While flavonoids improve neuronal, cognitive brain functions, and it protects the DNA integrity
(Crinnion). In organic foods the phytonutrients are increased but they are decreased in
conventional foods. Phytonutrients are decreased in conventional foods because the pesticides
and other chemicals prevent the phytonutrients from surviving and appearing in a mass quantity
(Crinnion). As stated early, organic milk and other dairy products have a higher level of omega-3
fatty acid. Omega-3 is the healthy fatty acid, and omega-6 is the unhealthy fatty acid (Crinnion).
In conventional milk the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is smaller (Crinnion). This leads to an
increase chance of getting heart disease. By drinking organic milk the ratio of omega-3 to
omega-6 is higher (Crinnion). The more the omega-3 the better!

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Organic food is the way to go when deciding whether to buy conventional or organic.
Organic has more health benefits than conventional food by improving overall health and
reducing health risk that come with pesticides and fatty acids. Even if organic is expensive over
conventional, just think of all the benefits that come with eating organic. A consumer may be
spending more at the store right now, but in the long run they will be saving money.

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Work Cited
"A-Z Index." ATSDR. CDC, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Charles, Dan. "Fertilized World." National Geographic. May 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Crinnon, Walter J. Organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of
pesticides and may provide health benefits for the consumer Alternative Medicine
Review (2010): 15.1 Print
Holtzman, David C. Organic food conclusions dont tell the whole story. Environmental
Health Perspectives 120.12 (2012): pg. 458 Web. 21 Oct. 2014
Jakuboski, Samantha. "The Dangers of Pesticides." Nature.com. Nature Publishing Group, 11
July 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2014
Study finds health benefits in organic milk. Dairy Foods (2014): Web.
Tate, Nick. Can organic food lead to a longer life? Newsmax. (2013): Print
Williams, Melvin H. Does commercial food processing affect food quality and safety?
Nutrition for Health, Fitness, & Sport. (2010): pg. 71. Print