LONDON (Reuters) – Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.

Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.

“A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance,” said Alan Dangour, one of the report’s authors.

“Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”

The results of research, which was commissioned by the British government’s Food Standards Agency, were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.

The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following a plunge in demand at the end of the year.

Now (this is Jim), there are many cancer specialists who believe that breast cancer survivors or those at a higher risk should ONLY eat organic produce because of pesticides, but there is no statistical data to support that theory.

I wanted to share a comment from Elizabeth.

She said “when we were growing up, my mother would use the expression Pay Now Or Pay Later, as in pay for good food and the right choices now so you DON’T have to pay for increased medical costs in the future.”

I couldn’t agree with her more.

When will we (and the government) come to realize that the best use of our time and money is to PREVENT disease, not treat it once it has gotten out of control.

75% of health care costs are for diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart. BUT, we know that the risk of these immediately goes down when we take better care of ourselves, keep weight down, exercise, etc.

Now, I am not saying that you can prevent ALL disease, but I am saying that the odds are in our favor when we put prevention first.

Thanks Elizabeth and give a special “thank you” to your mom.

Jim

“The Wall Street Journal” reported that sales of Gatorade are down.

That’s really good news as we DON’T need to be drinking our calories.

I know I have blogged about this a lot, but I think if we can reduce our liquid calorie consumption, we can reduce the obesity epidemic.

This applies to ALL liquid calories which includes juice, soda, sports drinks, designer coffees, etc.

Jim

This from Yahoo.com:

Walter Breuning learned to read by kerosene lantern, remembers his grandfather telling him about fighting in the Civil War, and cast his first presidential ballot for Woodrow Wilson.

The 112-year-old resident of Great Falls, Mont., apparently became the world’s oldest man when 113-year-old Henry Allingham of England died Saturday. Breuning was born Sept. 21, 1896.

Now living at the Rainbow Retirement Home, Breuning takes one aspirin and eats two meals a day. He strolls the halls wearing a suit and tie and still walks the ramps to his second-floor apartment.

Breuning said he’s more grateful for his health than he is for a world title.

“If you’re in good health, you’ve got everything there is,” he told the Great Falls Tribune.

Longevity doesn’t run in Breuning’s family.

He said his father, a civil engineer, died at 50, and his mother, a housewife, at 46. Two brothers and two sisters died in their 70s, he said.

Breuning credits his longevity to keeping busy and practicing moderation.

His advice for living to a ripe old age? Stay active in body and mind, don’t eat too much and be good to people.

The Guinness world records Web site said Breuning now appears to be the world’s oldest man and that it will make a formal announcement as soon as the record has been verified.

NOTICE HE SAID “DON’T EAT TOO MUCH.”

The recent University of Wisconsin study agrees as it tracked monkeys with calorie restriction and they ALL lived healthier, longer lives.

Jim

I am VERY opposed to the current health care proposal that the President is trying to push through. I truly believe that there must be incentives to take care of yourself, to eat the right foods, to exercise and to try, to the best of your ability, to manage your weight.

We will spend not one trillion dollars, but many trillions and I worry that my children will be saddles with this debt for life.

What are your thoughts? I am not saying that people shouldn’t have access to good, safe, effective care, but who should have to pay for that and what personal responsibility comes into play.

Jim

In 2005, back problems accounted for 139 million doctors visits and cost 17.6 billion dollars.

So, researchers looked at what was the best way to rehabilitate low back pain and placed people into one of three groups:

Group 1 – Performed strength training exercises.

Group 2 – Performed cardiovascular exercise.

Group 3 – Did not exercise.

At the end of the 16-week study, here were the results:

Group 1 – Decreased body fat percentage and improved fitness, reduced back pain and increased quality of life.

Group 2 – Improved body composition and flexibility and cardiovascular output, but made no progress with regard to back pain.

Group 3 – Reported no change at all.

So, if you are someone who does suffer from back pain, then please, hit the weights!

Jim

According to “The Wall Street Journal,” traffic rose 13.4% at Steak and Shake. What’s that all about? During a recession we need to eat crap, so we can get sick, miss work, have to pay for doctor’s visits and prescription meds?

Doesn’t sound like a smart move to me.

On the contrary, during tough times, we should take the best care of ourselves.

And with places like Trader Joes and Costco, eating healthy cost a whole lot less than it used it.

Jim

I have been on the phone a great deal today with former and current clients.

All I hear are excuses such as,

“It’s summer and we are entertaining a lot”

“We have been traveling”

“My spouse took a gourmet cooking class”

“My kids love ice cream in the summer”

And on and on and on.

You have to decide if you really want to take control of your health and body weight. In this day and age, food is everywhere. You have to decide whether or not you are going to eat it. It’s as simple as that.

Jim

I am watching a report on GMA which shows what happens to your body when you eat a tremendous amount of fast food.

After one day of eating, you should SEE the amount of fat that shows up in your body and how hard your heart needs to work to deal with all the fat that is circulating in your blood.

It is frightening to think what many people are doing to their bodies by eating this type of food.

Why can’t we get it that these foods are killing us?????

And, at first, I thought it was only the tourists that were heavy at the pool.

But today, the whole hotel opens itself up to people in the area and I am shocked at how large they are, both the men and the women. Truly, out of hundreds of people, probably 20 were close to what I would call ideal weight.

And that is shocking given that South Florida has always been about people in shape, very much like LA and the whole Denver/Aspen crowd.

So, it is troubling that people this young are this heavy. What will happen to them in the next 10 years????

Jim