Organic food consumption is associated with inflammatory biomarkers among older adults

Abstract

Objective: The association between organic food consumption and biomarkers of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP) and cystatin C (CysC) was explored in this cross-sectional analysis of older adults. Design: Dietary data and organic food consumption was collected in 2013 from a FFQ. Alternative Mediterranean diet score (A-MedDiet) was calculated as a measure of healthy eating. Biomarkers CRP and CysC were collected in serum or plasma in 2016. We used linear regression models to assess the associations between organic food consumption and CRP and CysC. Setting: This cross-sectional analysis uses data from the nationally representative, longitudinal panel study of Americans over 50, the Health and Retirement Study. Participants: The mean age of the analytic sample (n 3815) was 64·3 (se 0·3) years with 54·4 % being female. Results: Log CRP and log CysC were inversely associated with consuming organic food after adjusting for potential confounders (CRP: β = –0·096, 95 % CI 0·159, –0·033; CysC: β = –0·033, 95 % CI –0·051, –0·015). Log CRP maintained statistical significance (β = –0·080; 95 % CI –0·144, –0·016) after additional adjustments for the A-MedDiet, while log CysC lost statistical significance (β = –0·019; 95 % CI –0·039, 0·000). The association between organic food consumption and log CRP was driven primarily by milk, fruit, vegetables and cereals, while log CysC was primarily driven by milk, eggs and meat after adjustments for A-MedDiet. Conclusions: These findings support the hypothesis that organic food consumption is inversely associated with biomarkers of inflammation CRP and CysC, although residual confounding by healthy eating and socioeconomic status cannot be ruled out.

Organic Egg Consumption: A Systematic Review of Aspects Related to Human Health

“…Of the remaining 89, reading the full text resulted in the exclusion of 87 studies for the reasons specified in Figure 1. Three studies (10,11,24) were finally included in this systematic review.…”

“…Table 1 presents the main characteristics and results of the included studies. The oldest study (2008) was conducted in The Netherlands (10), and the next two were conducted in the United States (11,24). Each study had a different type of design.…”

“…On the other hand, the third study was a cross-sectional design in which 3,815 adults over 50 years of age were questioned about the consumption or non-consumption of organic eggs, and they had blood samples collected to assess the levels of inflammatory markers (11). In the analysis adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle confounders, including caloric intake, organic egg consumers had slightly lower levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and cystatin C (CysC) than those consuming conventional eggs (11) (Table 1).…”

“…To date, this topic has been explored in only three studies with different designs and population groups studied. Although two of the studies reported favorable results in terms of higher serum carotenoid levels (24) and lower levels of specific inflammatory markers (11) associated with the consumption of organic eggs, this limited set of results does not yet allow firm conclusions to be drawn about the benefits of organic eggs on human health. Egg allergy is the second most common food allergy in infants and young children after cow's milk allergy and can pose quality of life concerns (25).…”

“…On the other hand, the concrete effects of organic foods on health depend on being verified in scientific studies, which are still scarce and provide contradictory results (7,8). It should also be considered that the inconsistent findings on the health effect of the predominantly organic consumption pattern can be explained because the effects may vary according to each food consumed, although to a small extent (9)(10)(11).…”