• View ecochildsplay’s profile on Facebook
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Twitter
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Instagram
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Pinterest
  • View Jennifer Lance’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on YouTube
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Google+

Eco Child's Play

Live a greener, healthier life!

  • Environment
  • Pregnancy
  • Food & Recipes
  • Health News
  • Parenting
  • Green Toys
  • Beauty & Beauty Products
  • Green Home & Cleaning
  • Contact

Study Finds Eating Organic Food Reduces Cancer Risk by 25%

organic food cancerPrior to industrialization, cancer was rare in human history. Lifestyle changes that came as a result of this revolution in human history included longer lifespans (30 plus years) and exposure to toxic pollutants. According to Forbes:

Bioarchaeologists do not commonly see cancer in ancient skeletal remains, in part because life spans in the past were quite short and in part because of a general lack of environmental carcinogens in antiquity. 1

The growth of agriculture corresponded with the growth in industrializatin. In fact, increased output in agricultural productivity, like during the British Agricultural Revolution, is closely tied to population growth and migration that enabled the Industrial Revolution. As small farms were purchased by lords, small farmers moved to cities seeking work. 23

History of Chemical Farming

Industrialization eventually brought industrial farming with herbicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers replacing crop rotation and nitrogen fixing cover crop planting. Although DDT was first synthesized in 1873, it’s insecticidal properties are not discovered until 1945. 

Lead arsenate was one of the most popular and widely used pesticides in the US from the late 1890s until the 1950s. By 1908, gypsy moth resistance to lead arsenate is already reported.

In 1906, the Pure Food and Drug Act is passed largely as a result of Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle. By 1910, we have our first pesticide act, yet it only regulates labeling and not safety.

The rise of chemical production and its increased use is tied to the World Wars. Consider these two facts from The History of Big Chemical’s War on Food, 1865—2007:

1918: I. G. Farben, the German chemical cartel, forms and includes Bayer, BASF, and Hoechst. I. G. Farben will build chemical plants next to concentration camps during WWII, in support of the Third Reich.

1941:  Agriculture in the United States becomes even more industrialized, using chemicals, mechanization, and monoculture to increase production and feed war-torn Europe (1941—50). 4

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we find 85% of the food in the US contains pesticides, and genetically modified crops are abundant. 

The direct increase in cancer rates and chemicals in food production is hard to be ignored. Although survival rates for some forms of cancer have increased, the risk of being diagnosed has also grown.

organic food cancer

In fact, the Cancer Research UK reports “our chances of developing the disease at 1 in 2”. 5

Researchers in the British Journal of Cancer found in 2015:

The lifetime risk of cancer increased from 38.5% for men born in 1930 to 53.5% for men born in 1960. For women it increased from 36.7 to 47.5%. Results are robust to different models for projections of cancer rates…

The lifetime risk of cancer for people born since 1960 is >50%. Over half of people who are currently adults under the age of 65 years will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lifetime.6

One way you can reduce this risk is to eat organic food.

New Study:  Organic Food May Lower the Risk of Cancer

A study published on October 22, 2018, in the peer-reviewed The Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the “Association of Frequency of Organic Food Consumption With Cancer Risk“. The researchers followed 68, 946 French adults in a longitudinal study. Most of the participants were female and averaged 44 years of age. Participants’ diet was evaluated in 2009 and 2016 in the cohort study.

1,340 of the participants reported first occurrence cancer cases at follow-up with breast cancer being the most prevalent. Researchers found that “High organic food scores were inversely associated with the overall risk of cancer”.

Conclusions and Relevance  A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. Although the study findings need to be confirmed, promoting organic food consumption in the general population could be a promising preventive strategy against cancer.7

The results of the study were exciting and promising, but given the nature of a cohort study, there are other variables that were not considered. CNN reports that “Those who ate the most organic food were 25% less likely to develop cancer.” 8

This study gives new credence to the phrase, “Don’t panic it’s organic!”.  Although this study needs to be confirmed by subsequent research, it proves what intuitively organic food consumers know. Lessening exposure to contaminants logically reduces one’s risk of cancer. 

organic food cancer

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit

Footnotes

  1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2015/05/20/industrial-revolution-caused-rise-cancer-obesity-arthritis/#653046269f77
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Agricultural_Revolution
  3. https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-agricultural-revolution-timeline-causes-inventions-effects.htmlp
  4. https://www.chelseagreen.com/2008/the-history-of-big-chemicals-war-on-food-1865-2007/
  5. https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2015/02/04/why-are-cancer-rates-increasing/
  6. https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc2014606
  7. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2707948
  8. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/22/health/organic-food-cancer-study/index.html
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe!

« Natural Hair Care Ingredients That Should be Part of Your Daily Routine
New AAP Policy on Spanking: Does it Go Far Enough? »

Comments

  1. Rye Bennet says

    September 18, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    I just hope that organic food is not really that expensive.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Content

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

Contact Eco Child’s Play

Plants Over Plastics! Repurpose Compostable Home Products

Convenient Plastic Container Free Dropps Laundry & Dishwashing Pods

More from the archives!

Green Failures: The Little Plastic Goodie Bag of Crap from the Dentist

Baby feeding made easy with Spuni: Your child’s first spoon

Pizza is a Vegetable? Congress Chooses Lobbyists Over Healthy School Lunches

Denver’s Farm to Cafeteria Program [video]

EWG’s 2011 Dirty Dozen: Apples Top the List

cbd salve joy organics

CBD Products that Actually Deliver: Joy Organics

wama hemp underwear

The Most Comfortable Underwear is Made of Hemp: WAMA Review

Information

  • About & Contact
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Consulting Services
  • Disclaimer, Disclosure, & Sponsored Posts
  • Privacy Policy

Our Vegetarian Youth: 1 in 200 Kids is a Vegetarian

Silk Mermaid Costume is Great for Halloween

oregano oil

Is Oregano Oil the Solution to Antibiotic Resistance?

CPSIA Update – Exemptions for natural materials proposed

Student Digs Into Couch Cushions For Asthma Triggers

Popular Categories

  • Breastfeeding
  • Health News
  • Natural Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Education
  • Product Review
  • Green Toys

Get our posts via email

Please stay in touch!

You might also like to read…

Jamar Labs Wipes: Clean Solutions for On the Go Moms

Yes on 37! California Right to Know on GE Food Labeling

Nadya Suleman's Birth of Octuplets Highlights Lack of Fertility Clinic Regulation

Green Birthday Party Solutions: Eco-Friendly Party Favors

Child Size Cleaning Tools Encourages Children to Help with Household Chores

Copyright © 2023 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.