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  • From: "TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] Organic veg is better for your heart
  • Date: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 09:19:56 -0600


Organic veg is better for your heart
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=54JENQTBYPEQXQFIQMFSF

GGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/earth/2007/07/05/eafood105.xml

Organic food really is better for you than conventionally grown crops,
according to new research.

The study showed that organic tomatoes have almost double the amount of
antioxidants called flavonoids found in conventionally grown ones

A 10-year study comparing organic tomatoes with rival produce suggests they
have almost double the amount of antioxidants called flavonoids that
protect the heart.

According to the findings, levels of quercetin and kaempferol were found to
be on average 79 per cent and 97 per cent higher, respectively, in organic
tomatoes.

Flavonoids can fight heart disease, blood pressure and strokes, and have
been linked to staving off some forms of cancer and dementia, said Dr
Alyson Mitchell, who led the research.

Differences in soil quality, irrigation and the handling of harvested
produce have made direct comparisons difficult in the past, she said.
advertisement

In the study, due to be published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry, the researchers used data from a long-term project that used
standardised farming techniques.

Dr Mitchell, of California University, said the findings can be explained
by the availability of nitrogen in the soil. Flavonoids are produced as a
defence mechanism that can be triggered by nutrient deficiency.

The inorganic nitrogen in conventional fertiliser is easily available to
plants and so, the team suggests, lower levels of flavonoids are probably
caused by over-fertilising the soil.

But Gerry Hayman, the technical expert of the British Tomatoes Growers'
Association, doubted there would be much difference between organic and
traditionally grown tomatoes from Britain.

"We use similar growing techniques here whether the tomatoes are organic or
not, so the nutrients are of a high standard," he said.

Even if such benefits exist, higher flavonoid levels do not necessarily
make organic food healthier than processed food, said Sir John Krebs,
former chair of the Food Standards Agency and now at Oxford University.

He said: "Tomato ketchup has higher levels of lycopene, a strong
antioxidant, than tomatoes. So if you wanted lots of lycopene you should
eat ketchup."

Doctors say that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day is the
best way to consume antioxidants.






  • [Livingontheland] Organic veg is better for your heart, TradingPostPaul, 07/05/2007

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