A 2012 analysis estimates that today’s children age 0-5 in the US have lost more than 16 million IQ points from exposure to organophosphate pesticides. They’re exposed to these pesticides almost entirely from our food.

Organic foods are grown without the use of toxic synthetic pesticides, antibiotics, artificial hormones, or genetic engineering. They depend on cultivating healthy soil to grow healthy plants to produce healthy animals.

But not long ago, headlines blared that a new study had found that organic food isn’t any healthier. Let’s look behind the headlines, causing many parents to wonder whether organic was really worth it.

The study in question wasn’t new science, but a compilation and analysis of some of the existing studies comparing organic to conventional food. What did this paper find?

1) Pesticides

Conventional produce is more than five times more likely than organic to come with any pesticide residues. (38% of samples versus 7%).  The study didn’t go a step further and consider that when pesticides are found on conventional produce, the pesticides are often more toxic, present at higher levels, and come as mixtures of different chemicals.

The study also didn’t include the large body of literature about the toxic effects of some of these pesticides.

The authors concluded that this five-fold difference in pesticides couldn’t matter because the total amounts are so small. I strongly disagree. Pharmaceutical drugs are powerful, refined chemicals designed to improve health. They can have desired health effects on our brain function, sexual function, and fertility at concentrations in our bodies of only parts per billion. Synthetic pesticides are also powerful, refined chemicals, but designed to destroy or inhibit life. Why couldn’t they have undesirable health effects on our brain function, sexual function, and fertility when present in our bodies at similar concentrations?

If everyone in the country smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, it would be very difficult to tell that cigarettes caused lung cancer in a small, but significant, percentage of those who smoke. Today, almost all of us carry synthetic pesticides in our blood – pesticides that get there from our food. This is true even in babies at the moment of birth. I participated in a study with the Environmental Working Group where we analyzed umbilical cord blood and found pesticides in every baby tested. We found 21 different synthetic pesticides in babies’ blood.

One group of pesticides, the organophosphates, were originally produced as nerve agents during World War II. We still have much to learn about their health effects, but higher levels of exposure (in real world conditions) have been linked to lower IQ, memory problems, developmental problems, and ADHD.

The 16 million IQ points lost in young children from organophosphates carries a price tag of more than $169 billion in lost productivity when they grow up. And we take out a new debt of $28-30 billion every year – about the same amount as the total amount of money spent on organic food each year in the US.

Choosing organic food can drop a child’s organophosphate pesticide exposure almost overnight. In another study, suburban Seattle children had their urine tested multiple times for evidence of organophosphate pesticides and it was present in all samples, suggesting exposure above what the EPA set as a safe level. Then the children were switched to mostly organic food. The pesticides disappeared. They were virtually undetectable in morning and evening urine samples for five days. Then the children were switched back to their typical suburban diet and the levels found in their urine shot back up.

We can decrease pesticide exposure on the very next shopping trip.

The EPA says, “Protecting children from the potential effects of pesticides is one of EPA’s most important responsibilities. Pesticides have widespread uses and may affect children’s health in a variety of settings. We recognize that children are at greater risk from pesticide exposure.”

Choosing organic is a choice for decreasing toxic pesticides in our air, water, and farmers – as well as on our plates and in our children.

2) Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

When you buy conventional food you are three times more likely to bring multidrug resistant bacteria into your home than when buying organic. (48.4% of samples versus 15.9%).

The authors found this difference, but concluded it was unimportant because they thought bacterial resistance is fueled primarily by human antibiotic use.

Resistant bacteria are emerging as a major health threat.

According to the FDA, “Today, almost all important bacterial infections in the United States and throughout the world are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world’s most pressing public health problems. The smart use of antibiotics is the key to controlling the spread of resistance.”

We know what causes resistance. When bacteria are exposed to antibiotics they develop ways to survive, making them more resistant to antibiotics.

We also know that the routine use of antibiotics in our conventional livestock to fatten them up dwarfs the amount of antibiotics used to treat all human diseases. The FDA recognizes the problem and has asked for drug companies to voluntarily remove agricultural production from their antibiotic product labels, but widespread antibiotic use continues in conventional agriculture. Four fifths of all antibiotics used in the US are used in our agricultural animals.

The most highly resistant bacteria discovered so far were found not in hospitals or clinics, but in the soil.

Organic food, which doesn’t allow the use of antibiotics, is part of the solution to resistant bacteria – in our environment and in our own homes.

Behind the Headlines

The headlines trumpeted that organic isn’t worth extra money. The study in question found a five-fold difference in pesticides and a three-fold difference in multidrug resistant bacteria (plus significantly higher healthy omega-3 fats in organic). It didn’t even look at differences related to the use of artificial hormones or genetic engineering – or of artificial colorings, preservatives, and sweeteners in processed foods.

Every bite of food is an investment in our bodies or a debt of some kind we are taking out that we will have to pay back. Good food, organic food, is a delicious investment.

As a father, I have a desire to teach, provide for and protect my children. For me, one way to do all three of these is to choose organic foods for my family. I now know this as a physician, but I first learned it as a father and a husband.

That’s often the way it is. Medical textbooks don’t contain all the answers. Intuition and personal experiences often pave the way for later scientific understanding.

Today there is a strong, mounting body of science that is illuminating the benefits of growing crops organically. There is also evidence showing the harm of certain chemicals used in foods. And where we just don’t know the effects of new chemicals, we can proceed with precaution and protection for our children and their world. But I didn’t always feel this way.

When my first son was born, I was still in medical school. His knowledge of food came from what we fed him and what he saw us eat. Children learn more from what we do than from what we say. As a busy medical student, intern and then resident, I ate a typical rushed American diet: convenience foods, fast foods, junk foods. I ate some fruit most days and even less in the way of vegetables.

I was more interested in nutrition than my peers and went out of my way to take additional nutrition courses to supplement the meager offerings in the core curriculum. Still, I knew little. And what I did know was pushed aside by habit and a busy schedule.

By the time my youngest son came along, I was an established pediatrician. I had learned a lot about many aspects of health and wellness. I knew that there were benefits to foods grown organically, but I didn’t believe this deeply enough for it to become a priority in my family’s life. Then everything changed…

Crashing Insight When my youngest was a baby, my wife, Cheryl, was radiant and full of life. We were enjoying parenting and working together. Life was great!

Then Cheryl was diagnosed with stage III, high-risk, inflammatory breast cancer. The prognosis was grim. She was not expected to live to see the New Year. I grappled with the question “Where does breast cancer come from?” Like so many women with breast cancer, Cheryl had no history of the disease in her family. But she grew up on a farm.

It turns out that even though farmers in the United States are healthier than the general population in many ways, they have higher rates than the American public at large for several cancers, including leukemias, lymphomas, myelomas, brain cancers, and cancers of the lip, stomach, skin and prostate. But it’s not just the farmers themselves who get sick. Their children also have higher rates of reproductive tumors, leukemias and brain cancers—kidney and bone cancers, too.

As a girl, Cheryl could hear the pesticide sprayers rumble as she lay in her bed. She drank water from a well on the farm, a water source we later learned had been contaminated with pesticides. She bathed in this water. Her family cooked with it.

Several lines of reasoning suggest that agricultural pesticides used on farms are partly responsible for the increased cancer rates we see in farm families . The structure and function of these chemicals, their effects on animals and what we are learning about their effects on people are all reasons for concern.

The first studies I read about pesticides and breast cancer were a startling wake-up call for me . If these chemicals are hurting people and animals on the farm, how might they be harming the rest of us? Why wait for science to answer this question? The enormity of what we still don’t know about their effects demands thoughtful choices.

Against all odds, Cheryl survived her cancer. Did her early toxic pesticide exposure cause her cancer? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that I don’t want our children and other children put at this risk.

A Father’s Protection Most children today don’t grow up on farms. Does choosing organic food make a difference for them? Researchers at the Department of Environmental Health in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington started tackling this question by measuring pesticide levels in urine samples from preschool children in suburban Seattle. They divided the children into two groups: those who were fed mostly conventional foods and those who were fed mostly organic foods.

The urine samples of children who ate what people call conventional diets had mean pesticide concentrations about nine times higher than did those of children who ate organic! The results indicated that these preschool kids had exceeded the safe pesticide exposure levels set by the EPA and that their health was at increased risk. By contrast, those children who ate organic foods were well below the EPA levels deemed to cause negligible risk. By feeding your family organic foods, you safeguard them from harm and help them build healthy bodies.

Choosing organic for my family is one way I protect it. Additionally, when we provide our children with organic foods, we are often giving them an even bigger edge—like organic blueberries instead of partially hydrogenated snacks or organic orange juice instead of high-fructose sodas. What a gift! What an important part of our responsibility!

BONUS: Organic Wine

The Fountain of Youth is a legendary spring, fabled to restore the youth of those who drink from its waters. Some say that Juan Ponce de Leon was searching for it when he discovered Florida. But the legend didn’t start with Juan. Tales of healing elixirs and preserved youth run through human history.

In my opinion, the closest thing to a Fountain of Youth nutrient may be resveratrol⁶⁸. It is found in the skin of red grapes, and has been shown, in at least some circumstances, to have gentle antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, neuroprotective, anti-aging, and life-prolonging effects⁶⁹. Resveratrol is found in wine in amounts big enough to make a difference for a person drinking a moderate amount. Red wines consistently have more resveratrol than do whites.

In testing, organic wines average 32% higher resveratrol levels than their conventional counterparts. One organic Pinot Noir from Switzerland had 186% the amount in the matched conventional Swiss Pinot. A bottle of organic Gamay Noir had the highest amount in the study⁷⁰.

My wife grew up on a conventional vineyard (raisin grapes), and knows all too well the prevalence of pesticides on such farms. I first chose organic grapes and wine to decrease exposure to nasty chemicals. But I’m also happy to enjoy organic grapes and wine for their higher levels of resveratrol.

Bon appetit!

Read more from this series

• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — What you need to know!
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #1 — Milk
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #2 — Potatoes
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #3 — Peanut Butter
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #4 — Baby Foods
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #5 — Catsup
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #6 — Cotton
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #7 — Apples
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #8 — Beef
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #9 — Soy
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Item #10 — Corn
• Dr. Greene’s Organic Rx — Bonus Item #11 — Wine

 
^{68Bagchi, D., Das, D. K., Tosaki, A., Bagchi, M., and Kothari, S. C. Benefits of resveratrol in women’s health. Drugs Exp.Clin Res. 27(5-6), 233-248. 2001.
Bastianetto, S., Zheng, W. H., and Quirion, R. Neuroprotective abilities of resveratrol and other red wine constituents against nitric oxide-related toxicity in cultured hippocampal neurons. Br.J Pharmacol. 131(4), 711-720. 2000.
Conte, A., Pellegrini, S., and Tagliazucchi, D. Effect of resveratrol and catechin on PC12 tyrosine kinase activities and their synergistic protection from beta-amyloid toxicity. Drugs Exp.Clin Res 29(5-6), 243-255. 2003.
Lu KT, Chiou RY, Chen LG, Chen MH, Tseng WT, Hsieh HT, Yang YL. Neuroprotective effects of resveratrol on cerebral ischemia-induced neuron loss mediated by free radical scavenging and cerebral blood flow elevation. J Agric Food Chem. 19;54(8):3126-31. April 2006.
69Wood, J. G., Rogina, B., Lavu, S., Howitz, K., Helfand, S. L., Tatar, M., and Sinclair, D. Sirtuin activators mimic caloric restriction and delay ageing in metazoans. Nature 430(7000), 686-689. 8-5-2004.
Yeung, F., Hoberg, J. E., Ramsey, C. S., Keller, M. D., Jones, D. R., Frye, R. A., and Mayo, M. W. Modulation of NF-kappaB-dependent transcription and cell survival by the SIRT1 deacetylase. EMBO J 23(12), 2369-2380. 6-16-2004.
70Levite, D, Adrian, M., and Tamm, L. Preliminary results of resveratrol in wine of organic and conventional vineyards. Conference Proceeedings, 2000. 256-257. 2000. http://www.soel.de/inhalte/publikationen/s.77.pdf
Benbrook CM. Elevating Antioxidant Levels in Food through Organic Farming and Food Processing. The Organic Center. January 2005.}

Choosing organic foods can make a big difference for our children. Industrial agriculture techniques are relatively recent innovations. When my parents were young, the bulk of our food supply was not grown with antibiotics, hormones, or chemical pesticides. Their use became widespread in my lifetime. We are finally beginning to scientifically examine the impact of these techniques. I’ve summarized some of the most important recent studies below. These are some of the reasons that I am encouraging parents to take the Organic Lunchbox Challenge of giving their kids at least one serving of organic foods each day this year.

Background

We know that, at high enough levels, pesticides and other chemicals (such as mercury) found in food cause a variety of significant health problems in children, including cancer, attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, genital abnormalities, and reproductive problems.

We know that the very problems caused by environmental chemicals are increasing in our society and in our children. We know that childhood brain cancer and leukemia have each increased by more than 50 percent since 1975. We know that autism diagnoses have increased 10 times since the 1980’s.

We know that children have higher exposures to pesticides and other chemicals than do adults, and that even at the same exposures, they are at higher risk.

We know that pesticides used to grow foods are actually getting into our children’s bodies.

We know that combinations of pesticides or other chemicals can increase the risks.

Major Recent Studies

• Organophosphorus pesticide exposure of urban and suburban pre-school children with organic and conventional diets. October 2002.
• Loss of neuropathy target esterase in mice links organophosphate exposure to hyperactivity. March 2003.
• Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. January 2003.
• Body Burden. January 2003.
• America’s Children and the Environment: Measures of Contaminants, Body Burdens, and Illnesses. February 2003.
• Related Tidbits

Students I speak with observe that school food is often either unappetizing (overcooked cafeteria veggies) or unhealthy. Tasty junk food at school has become a magnet for kids across the nation, encouraging nutrition choices that hurt kids now, and build unhealthy habits for the long run.

Thankfully, a growing wave of school boards is starting to tackle the issue, one school district at a time. A quick phone call to your school board could help tip them into action.

But even when action is taken, there is usually a lag of a year or more before the menu actually changes. The Organic Lunchbox is something simple you can do in the meantime to provide your children delicious food that gives them energy for today and builds healthy, vibrant bodies for tomorrow. I’m encouraging parents everywhere to give their children at least one serving of organic food every day this year. Here’s why, then how:

Background

Toxic chemicals are toxic.

We know that pesticides and other chemicals (such as mercury) that can contaminate our food supply cause serious health problems if the exposures to these chemicals are high enough. These problems include cancers (such as brain cancer, breast cancer, and childhood leukemia), behavior problems, ADHD, learning disabilities, genital abnormalities, and reproductive problems.

We know that the very problems that can be caused by these environmental chemicals are increasing in our society and in our children. We know that childhood brain cancer and leukemia have each increased by more than 50 percent since 1975. We know that autism diagnoses have increased 10 times since the 1980’s.

We know that children have higher exposures to pesticides and other chemicals than do adults, and that even at the same exposures, they are at higher risk.

We’ve known from several good studies that pesticides and toxic chemicals aren’t just in the environment – but get into our developing children’s bodies. Some kids have high levels and others quite low. What’s different between these kids? Is there anything simple and practical that parents can do to lower their own children’s risks? A provocative study was published in October 2002 in the Environmental Health Perspectives, the journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH. Here, children were divided into two groups: those who ate mostly conventional foods and those who ate mostly organic foods. All urine for 24 hours was collected from each child. Children who ate conventional diets had mean pesticide concentrations in their urine 9 times higher than the children who ate organic! Their levels indicated that they had exceeded safe exposure levels set by the EPA and were at increased risk to their health. By contrast, those children who ate organic foods were well within the EPA levels deemed to cause negligible risk. Feeding children organic foods is something simple and practical parents can do right now to protect their children and help them build healthy bodies.

The Organic Lunchbox

I recommend that children get a variety of healthy foods. Together, the foods below would make an ideal lunch, loaded with body-building vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other important nutrients (perhaps some that haven’t even been discovered yet). I’m asking parents to include at least one of these items every day. Even adding one of these a day could make a big difference for our children and our environment:

A Serving of Organic Fruit

• This might be an organic apple, organic grapes, or a bag of organic cherries from the local farmers’ market. Thankfully, organic produce is available at more and more grocery stores as well. And the more that people ask for organic produce, the more available it will be. There are so many types of delicious fruit! My kids love kiwi bowls. Take a kiwi, cut it in half, and scoop out the yummy treasure using the thick skin as a bowl.

A Serving of Organic Veggies

• This might be a bag of small carrots from Earthbound Farms. Some kids like veggies (and even fruit) better if they are sent with a dip. A variety of dressings or yogurts can make tasty dips. Ants on a log are a perennial favorite (raisons on a peanut butter- or cream cheese- filled celery stick). My kids sometimes enjoy fresh sugar snap peas to munch, or English peas to shell and pop into the mouth – we get them both at the farmers’ market. Or you might get veggies in as a snack food, such as Just Veggies, or in a drink (such as carrot orange or carrot berry juice).

A Serving of Organic Whole Grains

• The easiest way to get this in is as a bread, a cereal, or a cracker. I like breads from Rudi’s Organic Bakery. The French Meadow Bakery also makes some delicious organic breads. A simple sandwich can be a convenient centerpiece to a great lunch. Keep in mind, though, that not all lunches need a centerpiece. A hunk of bread along with the other items in the lunchbox can make a perfect lunch without a ‘main dish’.

An Organic Calcium Source

• Two out of three kids in the U.S. do not get enough calcium in their diets! School-age children need at least 800 mg daily through age 8, and 1300 mg daily from age 9 to 13. A glass of milk has about 300 mg; a serving of yogurt about 400 mg; a slice of cheese might have about 200 mg. Those who don’t get calcium at lunch are unlikely to meet their daily needs. Lunch might include a serving of Stonyfield Farm organic yogurt – in a cup, as a fun Squeezer, or as an organic drinkable yogurt. Organic cheese is another good option. For kids who don’t do dairy, there are many other calcium options, including green vegetables, or even calcium enriched juices.

An Organic Source of Lean Protein

• You may have already provided your child with protein by giving them yogurt or a simple sandwich with Organic cheese. If there is not another protein source in the lunchbox yet, consider a hardboiled egg (perhaps an organic egg high in DHA), organic beans, or a sandwich with lean organic meats.

They DON’T Need: added sugars (especially high fructose corn syrups), added fats (especially partially hydrogenated fats), lots of artificial colors and other chemicals, or foods grown with pesticides, antibiotics, or hormones.

The Evil Twin

Let’s compare the commonsense, tasty lunch above with a popular prepackaged combination lunch-in-a-box, the kinds some kids fight over in the grocery store aisles. The one in front of me contains hot dogs, with cola to drink, and candy for dessert.

The Organic Fruit? None

• There is no fruit at all. 0% of the daily requirement for vitamin C (among many others).

The Organic Vegetable? None

• There is no vegetable, unless you count the catsup. 0% of the recommended servings of vegetables. Less than 2% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin A.

The Organic Whole Grain? None

• There is no whole grain. Only highly processed, nutritionally depleted white bread, with insufficient fiber.

The Organic Calcium Source?

• There is a small amount of calcium, but not close to the amount needed at lunch to meet the day’s requirements – it leaves them needing to catch up.

The Lean Protein Source?

• No lean protein source here. The saturated fats are artery-clogging and fattening even to kids. What protein there is comes from mechanically separated turkey and pork treated with sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, and nitrites. We know nothing about how the animals were raised.

It Also Contains: caffeine, chemical preservatives such as potassium sorbate and calcium proprionate, artificial chemical flavors, artificial chemical colors, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, added sugar, dextrose, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup – about 12 teaspoons of sugars, and more saturated fatthan anyone should eat at a meal.

All of the vitamins or minerals whose levels are disclosed on the package are quite low. It would take 10 of these meals to give a day’s supply of calcium or iron, 50 meals to get a day’s supply of vitamin A, and you would never get enough vitamin C – no matter how many of these you ate. Ten of these meals would supply almost 5000 calories, almost 200 gm of fat, and 8500 mg of sodium. This is part of what we mean by empty calories.

This may seem like an unfair comparison, but children eat food like this evil twin every day – food that they purchase at school, or pack along with them. The number one food kids eat? French Fries!

The Lunchbox Challenge

Let this be the year where you give your child at least one serving of organic food a day. The Organic Lunchbox is one great option. If packing lunch doesn’t work well for your family, consider starting the day right with a serving of organic food for breakfast. The research is clear that whether and what a child eats at breakfast makes a difference in learning, behavior, and test scores all morning long.

Isn’t it great that choosing healthy delicious food can make a real difference for our children today – and in years to come when they have walked out their childhoods, out of our homes, out of our reach, but never out of our hearts!