The Organic Factor (continued from page 45)
and Food Chemistry found that the
flavonoids rutin and coumaric acid reduced
the buildup of insulin in rats on a high-fat
diet by 48 to 68 percent, 34 reductions that
would virtually guarantee blockbuster status
for a new human drug.
parents, who need to think deeply and
strategically about what they feed themselves and their families in order to tip
the odds in favor of healthy development and lifelong health.
A Parting Thought
Unlike our current economic woes,
there is no stimulus package available to
make things right when food production
technology and poor dietary choices undermine healthy patterns of development.
Scientists have years of complicated research ahead of them to definitively answer
the question we started with: Why is it becoming so hard to raise a healthy child in
America? In the interim, prudence dictates
that concrete actions should be taken and
sustained to reduce daily exposures to any and all known risk factors.
Government has important roles to play in financing necessary changes and conducting the careful research needed to identify priority challenges and calibrate the direction of change. But the bulk of responsibility will fall upon individuals, especially
Dr. Charles Benbrook is the chief scientist at
the Organic Center ( www.organiccenter.org).
You can reach him at
cbenbrook@organic-center.org
Organic Farming can
improve the nutrient density
of food in several ways,
most rooted in the soil.
References:
1. Hertz-Picciotto, I. et al. 2009. The rise in autism and
the role of diagnosis. Epidemiology 20, no. 1.
2. Hanifin, J. M. et al. 2007. A population-based survey
of eczema prevalence in the United States, Dermatitis
18, no. 2.
3. Simpson, C. R. et al. 2009. Trends in the epidemiology and prescribing of medication for eczema in England, J. Royal Soc. of Medicine 102, no. 3: 108-117.
4. Verhulst et al. 2009. Intra-uterine exposure to environmental pollutants and body mass index during the first
three years of life, Environ. Health Perspect. 117:122-
126.
5. Benbrook, C. et al. 2008. New evidence confirms the
nutritional superiority of plant-based organic food, State
of Science Review, The Organic Center (March). Accessible at: http://www.organiccenter.org/science.
nutri.php?action=view&report_id=126
6. Roberts, E. M. et al. 2007. Maternal residence near
