Does organic help fighting cancer? A French research found out

There is a question that continues to linger in the field of food and wine produced according to organic rules: is it true that a diet based on organic products prevents the risk of cancer?

Today, a French study published in Jama Internal Medicine tries to give the answer: its results – based on a 4 and a half year research – show the reduction of the overall cancer risk by no less than 25%.

As reported by Consumer Reports, starting from the assumption that eating more organic food means consuming less pesticides, the researchers followed almost 70 thousand people for an average of 4 and a half years. In their analysis, they considered many cancer risk factors, such as age, sex, diet, education and lifestyle.

The reduction in the risk of cancer is generally clear, but it is even more evident in the case of two types of cancer in particular: lymphoma (a risk reduced by 76%) and breast cancer in postmenopausal (34% reduction). According to Julia Baudry, scientinst of the Research Center in Epidemiology and Statistics of the Sorbonne, in Paris, and lead author of the study, the most surprising thing is the extent of the risk reduction, while Charlotte Vallaeys, senior policy analyst and sustainability expert in the food safety and test department, told Consumer Reports: “There are many benefits to eating organic foods, and limiting exposure to pesticides is one of the biggest,” she says. “This study adds to the current body of evidence supporting the health benefits of consuming more organic foods.”

Of course, this does not prove that an organic diet causes a reduction in cancers, but strongly suggests “that an organic-based diet could contribute to reducing cancer risk”: the path to a real proof is long yet, as despite the large group of volunteers, the complexity of the subject and the relative short period of the research add some doubt to the findings. For sure there is space for further research.

We hope soon to hear more information on the subject, in the while why not drink some nice organic wine? We have plenty in our online catalog of natural wines.