ORGANIC FOOD?

Linda in Egypt

Look carefully and see Horus in the background, molesting Ramses II

Faithful readers of my blogs will know that I tend to be skeptical about most claims of miracle diets, especially when they concern cancer.  Well, what then am I to make of a massive new study in France, comparing the incidence of two kinds of cancer in people who ate an organic diet with people who didn’t?  Why don’t I admit that this settles the deal?  In other words, why don’t I recant?  Don’t worry: I’ll tell you.

First, the study:  Nearly 70,000 French people, mostly female, were asked to report on their eating habits.  Participants were sorted into categories: always ate organic; often ate organic; only ate organic by accident; never touched the stuff.  Since people who eat organic tend to be, in comparison with ordinary mortals, more health conscious, richer, more likely to get exercise, less likely to have big families, less likely to drink rot-gut red wine or Budweiser, etc., etc. , the researchers attempted to use statistical magic to account for these factors.  The 25% difference that remained, then, was assumed to be caused by diet.  Here is a description of the study:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/well/eat/can-eating-organic-food-lower-your-cancer-risk.html

Still, I remain unconvinced.  My principal problem with the study is that the participants “self-reported”; they simply described their diets to the researchers.  You know as well as I do that diet-health hawks often harbor a statistical propensity to  lie about their intake.  “Oh, that hot dog I scarfed down at the Mariners game really doesn’t count.”  Nobody lies about eating less organic food, except maybe me.  Thus the study has a built in bias – which, it seems, would be difficult to eliminate. 

Anyway, here are some caveats.

https://qz.com/1435958/a-new-study-suggests-organic-food-can-prevent-cancer-but-read-the-fine-print/

The notion is that certain pesticides may promote certain cancers, and that is certainly true.  It also is held that GMO food stuffs cause cancer; this is almost certainly not true.  Every expert agrees that one’s state of health is enhanced by eating more fruit and vegetables, less red meat, and cutting down on alcohol, and that includes cancer. Insofar as eating organic entails more apples, oranges and beets it may be beneficial - but because of what is eaten, not whether or not it is organic.  So, phooey!  Also - can you really trust a Frenchman?*

All that aside, I am now going to construct my dinner: chorizo burrito (carry-out), washed down with Red Hook ESB.  I’m 85, so who the heck cares?

*You know you can't always take me seriously, right?