Health Benefits of Organic Food Essay Example

Health Benefits of Organic Food Essay Example Health Benefits of Organic Food Paper Health Benefits of Organic Food Paper Health benefits of organic food provided by various literatures may be categorized into benefits that prevent people from incurring certain health risks and benefits that improve the health and well-being of individuals. Sources on the preventive benefits of organic food focus on the lack of pesticides in organically grown food products while studies covering the health improvement benefits of organic food look into the various nutrient levels or components in organic food that contribute to the health of consumers. Baker et al. (2002) conducted a study on the pesticide residue of three classifications of fresh agricultural produce, particularly vegetables and fruits categorized into organically grown, conventionally grown, and integrated pest management grown. To determine pesticide residue levels, three measures used by three groups the Department of Agriculture, Department of Pesticide Regulation, and the independent Consumers Union. Aggregate results using the three tests showed that organically grown produce showed lower pesticide residue by as low as one-third of the residues in conventional produce and one half of the residues found in produced grown through integrated pest management. This means that organic food carries the lowest level of pesticide residue when compared to the other categories and conventional produce holds the greatest concentration of pesticide residues. Although, the study showed that organic food is not entirely free of pesticide residue, the results showed that organically grown fresh produce holds the least concentration of pesticide residue. By exposing consumers to negligible levels of pesticide residue, people enjoy the health benefit of not being exposed to the potential health risks of accumulating higher levels of pesticide residue in their bodies. Not being at risk constitutes a health benefit in itself. Hood (2003) provides that one health benefit of organic food is minimal exposure of children to organophosphorus (OP) pesticides. Based on a study of schoolchildren consuming organic and conventional food, children who consumed organic food had lower OP pesticide in their bodies relative to the children consuming conventional food. Lower OP pesticide exposure is due to the non-utilization of pesticides in organic food to prevent the actualization of health risks from pesticide exposure. By minimizing the level of OP pesticide exposure, organic food shifts the risk of pesticide exposure from uncertain to negligible. The OP pesticide exposure level of schoolchildren eating organic food was found to be below the chronic reference dose set out by the Environmental Protection Agency for various OP pesticides in the case of children. This means that consumption of organic food in the case of children significantly lowers the probability of exposing children to chronic levels of OP pesticides. Chronic levels of OP pesticide exposure, especially in the case of children, lower the probability of children developing health risks such as possible adverse effects on neurological development and functioning as well as growth. Avery (2006) propounds that children’s consumption of organic food reduces the probability of actualizing the potential risks of exposure to high levels of OP pesticide. The author cautions researchers to be careful about their language use in presenting the health benefits of organic food consumption, in response to a number of studies that point out that organic food decreases accrual of neurological and growth related health condition in children. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the consumption of organic food contributes potential health benefits to children subject to further research to derive peer-reviewed results.