Have you ever looked at the organic foods in the supermarket and wondered whether it’s worth spending the extra money? Does it really make much difference?

The short answer is yes, and that’s particularly true for cancer patients for a few reasons.

The first reason is the most obvious: you avoid any dangerous toxic chemicals, including man-made herbicides and pesticides, petroleum-based fertilisers, growth hormones, and genetic modification, all of which aren’t permitted if you have organic certification.

Certified organic growers often use beneficial insects like ladybirds, biological pesticides, natural oils, vinegar, sulphur, seaweed and carbon dioxide gas to control pests. Weeds are also controlled naturally, using growing techniques, crop rotation, mulching, and biological controls.

Man-made pesticides and herbicides have been linked to cancer, particularly non-Hodgkin lymphoma, soft tissue sarcoma, leukaemia, ovarian cancer, and in some studies breast and lung cancers.¹

Some crops are worse than others for pesticides. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) in the US produces a list of the worst produce for pesticides, which they refer to as the Dirty Dozen. For 2021, the list, from worst to least bad is:

• strawberries

• spinach

• kale, collard and mustard greens

• nectarines

• apples

• grapes

• cherries

• peaches

• pears

• capsicum and chilli peppers

• celery

• tomatos.²

Try to avoid buying anything on this list that isn’t organic if you want to avoid pesticides.

The EWG also produces a list of produce with the least pesticides, which they call the Clean 15. The 2021 list is:

• avocados

• sweet corn

• pineapple

• onions

• papaya

• frozen peas

• eggplant

• asparagus

• broccoli

• cabbage

• kiwi fruit

• cauliflower

• mushrooms

• honeydew melon

• rockmelon.²

You can buy non-organic versions of these without much concern about pesticides.

It is possible to remove the pesticide residues on the outside of produce, using vegetable wash, which you can buy in health food stores. Unperfumed Castile soap is also effective. Or you can soak your produce in a solution of one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda per litre of water for 12 minutes. I recommend rinsing it afterwards with water with a few drops of organic apple cider vinegar to remove any residue. This has the added advantage of killing any bacteria on the surface of the produce, so it will last longer. Bear in mind, though, that with some fruit and vegetables, particularly those that are high in water, the pesticides will have been absorbed into the body of them as well as on the surface.

Organic meat is also a good idea if you want to avoid pesticides. Animals raised in non-organic conditions are fed either on pasture that has had pesticides used on it or on grains that may also be contaminated with pesticides. In Australia, farmers are permitted to give beef cattle growth hormones to increase their weight. Organic farmers are not permitted to use these. Similarly, farmers can use antibiotics on their cattle but these aren’t permitted for organic farmers. Those antibiotics can increase the risk of antibiotic resistance.

These aren’t the only reasons for buying organic foods. It’s been found that the levels of cadmium in organic foods are about 48% lower than in conventionally grown crops.³ Cadmium is a heavy metal that is highly toxic and accumulates in body tissues, particularly in the liver and kidneys. It’s been classified as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This was based on epidemiological studies (studies of large populations), which showed a causal association with lung cancer and possibly prostate cancer.⁴ Since the IARC classification, more epidemiological studies have shown an association between cadmium and cancers of the bladder, pancreas, kidney and breast.⁴

Lastly, but by no means least, the nutritional content of organic foods is higher than those that are conventionally-grown. The difference is not so much in the vitamin content, which is only slightly affected, but in the antioxidant levels. Researchers took 343 peer-reviewed publications and pooled the results in meta-analyses. They found highly significant increases in various classes of antioxidants. For example, in organic foods:

• flavanones were 69% higher

• flavones were 26% hgher

• flavonols were 50% higher, and

• anthocyanins were 51% higher.³

These antioxidants are linked to lower risk of certain cancers. They can inhibit carcinogenesis, angiogenesis (the formation of blood vessels to feed cancers), and metastasis, as well as promoting apoptosis (the programmed death of cells, which cancer cells avoid).⁵

As you can see, organic produce is definitely a good idea for cancer patients. Yes, the cost of it is higher than conventional produce, but what price can you put on good health? As you’ll no doubt have discovered, getting sick can be costly too.

What if your budget just won’t stretch to organic produce? Well, you can reduce your exposure to pesticides by the washing process I’ve outlined above. Better still, though, why not plant your own? You will save money, get beautifully fresh vegetables and fruit, reduce your stress levels, get some exercise and also increase your vitamin D levels by working in the sunshine.

If you’ve found this article helpful, you will find my book goes into much more detail about which foods contain these antioxidants and their benefits. You can find details about it here.

References

1. Dich J, Zahm S, Hanberg A, Adami H. Pesticides and cancer. Cancer Causes and Control. 1997;8(3):420-443. doi:10.1023/a:1018413522959

2. Environmental Working Group. Dirty Dozen™ Fruits and Vegetables with the Most Pesticides. Ewg.org. https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/dirty-dozen.php. Published 2021. Accessed September 21, 2021.

3. Barański M, Średnicka-Tober D, Volakakis N et al. Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. British Journal of Nutrition. 2014;112(5):794-811. doi:10.1017/s0007114514001366

4. Huff J, Lunn R, Waalkes M, Tomatis L, Infante P. Cadmium-induced Cancers in Animals and in Humans. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2007;13(2):202-212. doi:10.1179/oeh.2007.13.2.202

5. Blevins Primeau A. Flavonoids and Cancer. Cancer Therapy Advisor. https://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/home/tools/fact-sheets/flavonoids-cancer-risk-prevention-patient-fact-sheet/. Published 2019. Accessed September 21, 2021.