Is Organic Food Healthier?

The market for organic food has been expanding rapidly in the past decade, with growth rates estimated to be 13.9% annually from 2024 to 2030.¹

While people may purchase organic food for environmental concerns or animal welfare reasons, most often, it’s due to a belief that it is healthier or has superior nutritional value.² 

But is organic food healthier than conventionally grown food? Let’s take a look at what the research says. 

What Does Organic Mean?

First things first, we need to define what organic even means. 

Organic is a term regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), and there are pretty strict standards that must be upheld in order for a food to bear its seal. 

While a USDA Organic label doesn’t automatically make a food healthy (lookin’ at you, organic Doritos), it does verify a few things. Produce that is USDA Organic Certified must:³

• Rely on only natural substances for growing.
• Not use synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or sewage sludge in any of the growing or handling practices.
• Be grown on soil that has had no prohibited substances applied for three years prior to harvest.
• Never use irradiation or genetic engineering (GMO).

Organic meat requires that the animals are fed 100% organic feed or forage, not given antibiotics or hormones, and raised in living conditions that accommodate their natural behavior (like grazing on pasture). 

Multi-ingredient foods (like those Doritos) must avoid artificial preservatives, colors, and flavors, and the ingredients must be organic (with minor exceptions that cannot be organic, like baking soda, for example). 

In order for any food to use the USDA Organic Seal, the final product has to meet these strict production standards, be 100% organic, and go through the organic certification process. 

If a multi-ingredient food is not completely organic, you may also see terms like “Made with organic ingredients,” which means that 70% or more of the product has to be certified organic ingredients.

Is Organic Food Healthier For You?

According to a 2019 systematic review, there is little variation between conventionally grown and organic produce when it comes to macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates, fiber, or fat.² 

However, some significant variations in certain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other nutrients have been identified, including:

• Organic foods have more antioxidants, including phenolic acids (19% higher), flavanones (69% higher), stilbenes (28% higher), flavones (26% higher), flavonols (50% higher), and anthocyanins (51% higher). The researchers of this meta-analysis state that these differences would be equivalent to consuming 1-2 additional fruit or vegetable servings daily.⁴ 
• Organic dairy products have more omega-3 fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), vitamin E, and iron but lower iodine and selenium.⁵
• Organic meat has more favorable fatty acid profiles, including more omega-3 fatty acids and fewer saturated fats.⁶
• Organic fruits and vegetables may have more magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, and iron.⁷ 
• Organic meat has been found to contain less antibiotic-resistant bacteria.⁸ 

However, results from studies of the nutrient levels in organic crops can vary widely due to differences in farming operations, ground cover, and soil health. Nutrient content can even change in the same farm from season to season. 

Some research has shown that people who eat organic foods more regularly have better nutrient statuses than those who never or rarely eat organic. That said, it’s much more likely that someone purchasing organic foods is also health-conscious, which can skew results. 

One study looked at plasma levels of certain nutrients between consumers of organic versus non-organic foods. The researchers found that people consuming more organic foods have greater plasma levels of carotenoid antioxidants, including α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin.⁹

Whether or not these elevated nutrient levels also impact human health or disease outcomes is less clear. 

Some research has suggested that eating organic foods may reduce the risk of allergic diseases like eczema (especially organic dairy) and overweight and obesity, but the evidence is not conclusive.¹⁰ 

Other observational studies have found a correlation between organic food consumption and a reduced incidence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and high cholesterol in both males and females, a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in men, and a significant reduction in risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (but no other cancers).^11,12

Non-Organic Foods and Pesticide Residue

Even more important than what is potentially higher in organic foods is what’s lower or not present at all—namely, pesticide residues, heavy metals like cadmium, and other toxic metabolites.² 

Although the USDA’s Pesticide Data Program (PDP) and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) state that dietary intake of pesticides is not considered to pose a health risk as long as individual pesticide concentrations in foods are below the Maximum Residue Level (MRL), other organizations like the EWG (Environmental Working Group) are adamant that pesticide-laden food is harmful to health.¹³ 

Therefore, there is still plenty of controversy about whether or not chronic low-level dietary pesticide exposure impacts health. 

Pesticides like organophosphorus insecticides and glyphosate have been recently re-classified by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as being “probably carcinogenic,” and research has found that people who regularly consume conventional foods (non-organic) have significantly greater levels of pesticide metabolites excreted in the urine than organic consumers.^{14, 2}

Plus, some researchers point out that these safe limits may not, in fact, be safe when considering simultaneous exposure to several pesticides from different crops or foods, possibly causing synergistic adverse effects.¹⁵

One study of women using assisted reproduction technology (ART) for infertility found that those with the highest consumption of high-pesticide fruits and vegetables (over two servings per day) had an 18% lower probability of becoming pregnant and 26% lower probability of having a live birth.¹⁶ 

As discussed in this review, other observational or animal studies have linked exposure to or consumption of organophosphates (like glyphosate, malathion, parathion, and dimethoate) to increased risks of endocrine disruption, decreased insulin secretion, cellular oxidative stress, mitochondrial effects, DNA damage, cardiovascular disease, male reproductive system issues, and neurological problems in children.¹⁶

However, studies looking at pesticide residues or metabolites in the body and health risks or chronic diseases are not as clear.

Although organic farming can use naturally derived, organic, and approved pesticides by the USDA National Organic Program, they tend to break down faster than conventional pesticides.¹⁷ This means organic or naturally derived pesticides are less likely to accumulate in your body, the crop, or the environment and have a reduced risk of harming non-target plants or animals nearby. 

The Bottom Line

Overall, organic food tends to have more nutrients, antioxidants, and healthier fats (in the cases of dairy and meat), and some research indicates that eating more organic food has more health benefits than conventional food consumption, but the evidence is far from conclusive.

If you prefer to purchase organic food and can access and afford organic food, by all means, continue doing so. 

But if the choice comes down to purchasing a non-organic apple or no apple at all, please choose the conventionally grown apple. Eating fruits and vegetables—organic or not—is the most important thing.

No matter what type of fruit or vegetable you purchase, always wash your produce well before eating it. 

That said, it is much more conclusive that organic farming is better for the environment. 

Some ways that organic farming benefits the environment include greater plant and insect biodiversity, reduced pesticide runoff into water bodies, better soil health (by using methods like crop rotation and cover cropping), greater carbon sequestration due to healthier soil, reduced greenhouse gas emissions like nitrous oxide (N2O), and potential use of water conservation methods.¹⁸ 

If your primary concern is sustainability and environmental protection, consider looking for additional certifications on your food that go above and beyond organic—check out this article for our top recommendations. You can also purchase organically grown food at your local farmers market or join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, both of which are even more sustainable due to the shorter distance traveled between the farm and your table (among many other reasons). 

Similarly, if your primary concern is animal welfare, consider buying organic meats and dairy products in addition to looking for certifications like Certified Grass-Fed by AGW or Animal Welfare Certified by Global Animal Partnership, as organic alone does not indicate how well or humanely an animal is treated.

Organic Food FAQs