Organic Vs Non-Organic - A Case For the Higher-Priced Produce

I confess. I've been avoiding the organically grown produce section at the grocery store. The fruits and vegetables often look wilted. The prices are much higher than the non-organic section. And does it really have to be grown with natural additives to be good for you?

Of all the artificial additives used in non-organic farming, the synthetic pesticides that ward off insects, bacteria and fungus infections seem to be the most maligned. But there are valid concerns about toxicity, especially in high concentrations, and potential damaging effects on cells and tissues. More importantly, foods harvested from pesticide-treated plants may also contain fewer disease-preventing micronutrients than organically grown foods. Here's why.

Organic Fruit

Plant Self-protection
The members of the plant kingdom have evolved a biochemical system to protect themselves from disease-producing pathogens, as well as environmental stress such as drought. This network can detect when a pathogen is attacking the plant's tissues. It responds by synthesizing specific substances, often referred to as phytoalexins (Greek-derived for plant defenses), to help minimize the damage.

For example, take resveratrol, a phytoalexin that has been in the news recently. The resveratrol content of a plant, like a red wine grape vine, is normally highest after an event that places the plant under stress. Say the vine is infected by a fungus micro-organism. It synthesizes resveratrol that, in turn, activates specific biochemical pathways to protect the plant from the infection.

Animal Plant Ingestion
So, what happens when an animal eats phytoalexin-protected plant compounds? Are similar self-preservation pathways activated? Does the animal's health improve?

Continuing with the resveratrol example, the answer to both questions seems to be "yes." In fact, resveratrol's positive effects have been the subject of numerous studies and more than 3,000 articles, including several in this newsletter. (Juvenon Health Journal Volume 6, 11/07 and 6/07, among others.)

And resveratrol is not alone. Health-promoting benefits for organisms farther up the food chain have been attributed to a number of pathogen-induced plant compounds. As another example, a recent study demonstrated how fermented blueberry juice, full of phytochemicals, improved the condition of mice genetically susceptible to diabetes.

Better Blueberries
Blueberries are rich in antioxidants due to the presence of significant quantities of phenolic compounds, the most common of which are known as anthocyanins. The results of a number of studies have suggested that these compounds may not only improve general health, but also help to prevent cardiovascular disease, gastric ulcers, urinary tract infections, neurodegenerative disease, cancer and diabetes.

But are all blueberries created equal in phenolic compound content? Investigators at the Université de Moncton, Canada, noted considerable variation between the berries picked in different fields, and even in the same field from one year to the next. From previous work, they were also aware of a correlation between phenolic compound levels and certain conditions, including temperature, drought and, of particular interest for this study, infection by pathogens.

While examining berries from different sources for the presence of pathogens, the researchers discovered a new bacterium, which they named Serratia vaccinnii. Additional experiments demonstrated that the concentration of antioxidants could be increased significantly by adding Serratia vaccinnii to blueberry extract and allowing it to ferment for a short period of time. These results suggest that the higher phenolic compound content in some berry crops may be pathogen-induced (like resveratrol in a red wine grape vine).

Blueberry Cocktail for Mice
Subsequently, a group of investigators from the University of Montreal compared the effects on mice of the Serratia vaccinnii-infected, fermented blueberry juice (BIBJ) versus juice prepared from normal blueberries (NBJ). The test animals for the four-week experiment were from a strain of mice predisposed to develop obesity-linked type-2 diabetes that resembles the condition in humans.

The mice on diets with NBJ or without any blueberry juice (control group) showed a predictable increase in body weight and decrease in insulin sensitivity (as determined by elevated blood-glucose levels, a marker of diabetes). For the mice whose diet included the BIBJ "cocktail," however, the results were more exciting in the context of their genetic predisposition.

They lost weight, relative to the controls. Their insulin sensitivity increased (decrease in blood-glucose), whereas their blood insulin level decreased. In fact, the pronounced positive (anti-diabetic) effects of BIBJ rivaled those obtained with a fourth group of animals fed a diet containing the popularly prescribed diabetic drug, Metformin.

(Side note: In the BIBJ group, there was also a significant increase in a specific hormone, adiponectin, secreted by fat tissue. This hormone is associated with fat removal, or catabolism, and may be partly responsible for the reduced fat and blood glucose results.)

Grocery Store Advice
Now let's go back to that more expensive organic produce section in light of what these blueberry studies seem to indicate.

1) Blueberries (by extension, produce), sprayed with anti-microbial pesticides would be devoid of pathogens that activate disease-preventing micronutrients, which seem to produce higher concentrations of antioxidants.

2) Plant microflora, micro-organisms like the Serratia vaccinnii bacteria, have the potential to increase the health benefits of our plant-derived foods. (Caveat: plant foods infected with certain fungi, like Aspergillus in peanuts, can be disease-promoting.)

Organic Vs Non-Organic - A Case For the Higher-Priced Produce

Dr. Benjamin Treadwell, Ph.D. is an independent researcher in biochemistry with a life-long interest in metabolism and aging. He previously served as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at Harvard Medical School and as Director of the Orthopedic Research Laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital. He earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry at New York University and served as a Research Fellow at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in New Jersey.

My Links : anolon advanced nonstick hard anodized aluminum 10