The Mediterranean diet provides many health benefits, but we can also run the risk of consuming too many environmental pollutants. A recent study claims that organically produced foods may be the solution to these pesticides.
Many people opt for a Mediterranean diet, based on eating lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and fish, along with a little olive oil. This type of diet only allows small amounts of saturated fat from dairy products and red meat.
But a new study , conducted by scientists at the University of Oslo, made a rather surprising discovery. People who followed a Mediterranean diet containing conventionally grown foods consumed three times more environmental pollutants compared to those eating a typical Western diet.
The participants were divided into two groups: one consumed a Mediterranean diet based on conventionally grown foods, while the other group followed the same diet based solely on organically grown foods . In the group that consumed organically grown foods, the level of environmental pollutants was reduced by 90% compared to the group that followed a Mediterranean diet with conventionally grown foods.
Pesticides can affect hormones
The researchers analyzed the participants' urine and investigated what contaminants were present in the food they ate.
Researchers have revealed that several of the environmental pollutants they found are known or suspected to affect hormones in the body. There is growing evidence that such toxins can weaken our immune system and perhaps also our fertility . If hormones become imbalanced, it can also negatively impact children's growth and development.
Conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are some of the main sources of environmental pollutants absorbed through our diet. Since a Mediterranean diet is based on these foods, those who consume it have an intake of these pollutants ten times higher than if the diet were based on organically grown foods.
The organic Mediterranean diet would be the best option
Scientists aren't yet going to issue a warning against living on a Mediterranean diet devoid of organically grown foods. This study is not very large, and the long-term health effects of such a diet have not yet been monitored.
For those who eat a non-organic Mediterranean diet, it is not yet known what will be the most decisive in the long term. Perhaps it is better to consume better and healthier nutrients than if they ate a conventional northern European diet, or absorb a greater volume of environmental pollutants. We will have to wait for the results of research studies in larger populations.
Our intake of environmental pollutants also comes from other sources, such as the air we breathe and cosmetics like skin creams. This study did not adjust its results to account for these factors, so further research is needed to determine if we are truly at risk. The only thing we can say for sure is that the Mediterranean diet is one of the best ways to eat.