Among meat eaters who want to do their best for them and their family’s diet, organic meat is quite often a choice I see, as a dietitian specialized in clinical nutrition and autoimmune diseases, educated on plant based nutrition. The truth is that organic products in general are a good choice if we want to have foods with no synthetic pesticides and chemicals in our plate. Is this something that is valid for organic meat as well? Let’s see what research has to say about it.
Apparently, there are numerous studies that have shown a link between meat consumption and cancer, due to the carcinogenic contaminants found in it. How about organic meat? Unfortunately for those that have invested on it, it seems that it’s not that much safer. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are among the most frequent contaminant in meat, but according to research, they are also found in organic meat as well.
More specifically, researchers acquired 76 samples of meat (lamb, beef and chicken) both conventional and organic to see the levels of POPs. As researchers expected, no sample was completely free of carcinogenic contaminants, and while one would expect that in spite of that, there would be a big difference between contaminant levels in regular meat in relation to organic, the difference between the samples were minimal. The risk is even higher in lamb, but in general, meat consumption is associated with a relevant carcinogenic risk. If we also consider that those who consume organic, may eat more of it thinking it’s healthier, there might be a problem.
Those of you who eat more chicken than red meat, the news are not that great either. Chemicals known as Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are quite high in some countries, especially in the United States.
The bad news is that those chemicals are not found only in foods, but also in wire insulation, pc, rugs, small appliances etc. The good news is that at least if you don’t eat meat (organic or conventional) and prefer more plant foods, you get lower levels in your blood –about 25%-, as a study in vegetarians showed, while you’re more protected from dioxins and PCBs (highly carcinogenic chemicals, with high environmental toxicity, which are banned, but due to their longevity, they are still widely in use).
It’s also been shown that in a quite short time (about 3 months) from the time one stops eating animal protein (poultry, fish, meat, eggs), there seems to be a serious decrease up to 30% on the levels of toxic metals in our system.
To sum up, if you consume meat, you shouldn’t rely on the fact that organic meat is healthier (something which could possibly make most people reassured it’s healthier and maybe eat more). As far as cancer is concerned, it’s not a healthy choice and you should consider a mostly plant-based diet to be safe.
Resources
https://nutritionfacts.org/2022/06/28/certified-organic-meat-put-to-the-test/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25659303/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7464895/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1396483/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25893622/
