A recent study published in the UK caused a big kafuffle in the organic industry when it claimed there was no nutritional benefit to organic produce over conventional. The researchers looked at studies conducted over the last 40 years, and while the organic foods often did contain a higher amount of vitamins and minerals, they decide the difference was not “nutritionally” significant. In a single piece of produce, a 17 % difference in beta carotene, as one study found, may not be significant, just as they said. But what if that 17% were missing from everything you ate, day after day, year after year?  Would that make a difference? Probably, but that is the holistic nutrition perspective, not the conventional.

I put that concept out there because it needs to be said. Good health is easier to achieve if all the food consumed has the maximum amount of nutrients possible. However, the important aspect of the study to note, is that the studies they looked at examined vitamin and mineral content. Unfortunately, they did not look at the phyto-nutrient content, the new superstars in the health world, linked to prevention of many diseases prevalent today. As part of the plant’s defense system, phyto-nutrient content goes up in food when the plants are attacked by bugs or fungus.