For the first time, a scientific study has just demonstrated that organic food is associated with a significant decrease in oxidative stress. This phenomenon is responsible for various chronic diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases, certain cancers and diabetes. Explanations.
In October 2018, French researchers had published an epidemiological study suggesting that the risk of certain Cancers is reduced in people who regularly eat organically grown food.
That study used data from a sample of 68,946 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort and showed a 25% reduction in cancer risk in regular consumers of organic food, compared with those who consumed it less often.
Three years later, a team of Cypriot researchers succeeded in identifying, at the molecular level, a biological phenomenon that could explain these results.
Their work, which was published in January 2022 in the journal Environment International, links for the first time organic food with a significant decrease in oxidative stress markers.
As a reminder, oxidative stress is manifested by the significant presence of free radicals in the body.
It is a phenomenon involved in skin aging but also in the occurrence of different chronic pathologies. In particular, it would be involved in certain cancers, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases.
According to the authors of the Cypriot study published in early 2022, the protective effect of organic food against oxidative stress would be explained by reduced exposure to pesticides.
To reach this conclusion, researchers from the Institute for Environment and Public Health at the Technical University of Cyprus enrolled 191 children aged 10 to 12 years in several Cypriot elementary school.
One group ate exclusively organic for 40 days before switching back to a conventional diet, while the second group alternated the two diets in reverse order.
Urine samples were collected throughout the experiment and subjected to metabolomic analysis.
This method of analysis involves noting the presence of dozens of small molecules or metabolites that reflect the functioning of the body.
It therefore allows us to study how the body uses nutrients, fats and sugars and how it reacts to the various stresses it is subjected to.
Some metabolites are characteristic of the body's reaction to substances that alter its DNA.
After collecting and analyzing 850 urine samples in total, the Cypriot researchers concluded that an organic diet reduces pesticide exposure and biomarkers of oxidative stress in the body.
Their work is the first study to provide scientific evidence of the benefits of an organic diet at the molecular level.
However, these researchers note that further studies are needed to better understand this mechanism.
According to Professor Konstantinos Makris, the environmental health specialist who led this research:
'What we observe in both groups of children is that the organic diet is associated with a reduction in markers of oxidative damage, strongly correlated with a decrease in markers of pesticide exposure. We also find that this effect strengthens over the period of time that children are fed an organic diet, becoming significant after about 40 days.'
This study is very interesting because even though the sample studied is small (191 children), the methodology is very precise and allows for the detection of many things at the molecular level.
Author Audrey on 08 March 2024
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