How important is it to choose organic foods?

Organic Food - Questions and Answers ABOUT FOODS AND CANCER PREVENTION AND SURVIVAL

QUESTION: How important is it to choose organic foods?

ANSWER: Buying organic produce is a good idea. It helps you avoid toxic
chemicals and improve the nutritional value of the foods you eat. Table  lists
twenty-four fruits and vegetables with the highest and lowest
levels of pesticide residue. Organically grown plant foods are not only
more flavorful than conventionally grown crops, they are more nutritious
and richer in cancer-fighting antioxidants and other phytochemicals.

Depending on where you live, you may find organic produce at your
regular grocery store. You can also look for affordable organic food at a
farmers’ market in your area or join a community supported agriculture
(CSA) group to receive local seasonal harvests. Not all organic farms are
certified organic, because certification can be cost-prohibitive for smaller
farmers. However, by buying local produce you can learn personally
from farmers about their farming practices and ensure that you are getting
safe fresh produce.

“Organic” meat is another story. Buying organic meat does not necessarily
mean that you are eliminating the health risks associated with
the consumption of animal products. For instance, heterocyclic amines
(HCAs), a family of mutagenic compounds, are produced during the
process of cooking chicken, beef, pork, and fish. Meat that is cooked
under normal grilling temperatures commonly contains significant quantities
of these carcinogens. The longer and hotter the meat is cooked, the
more these compounds form. There is also significant evidence that consuming
dairy products, conventional or organic, may increase blood levels
of IGF-1, a hormone in the body that has been associated with increased
cancer risk. And both meat and dairy, regardless of whether or not they are
organic, can provide considerable amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol.

Choosing a plant-based diet that is also low in pollutants and pesticide
residues will enable you to control some of the major factors that have been
linked to the risk of cancer and other degenerative diseases.24,25