Another Reason to Pick Organic

Prevention Magazine published an interesting article about the decline in levels of nutrientes in today's conventionally grown produce. An example is the broccoli, today with 48mg of calcium versus 130mg in 1950. This is a result of selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers to produce bigger items. It has decreased produce's ability to absorb enough nutrients from the soil.

A different story is playing out with organic produce. "By avoiding synthetic fertilizers, organic farmers put more stress on plants, and when plants experience stress, they protect themselves by producing phytochemicals," explains Alyson Mitchell, PhD, a professor of nutrition science at the University of California, Davis. Her 10-year study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that organic tomatoes can have as much as 30 percent more phytochemicals than conventional ones.


Sources: msnbc.com, Prevention and Rodale Inc.