you are what you eat goes the old saying.

And everywhere we are urged to eat organic.

It's more nutritious, pesticide-free,

and protects animals and the environment.

At least that's what we are being told or rather sold.

And thanks to a lot of very effective marketing,

many people believe it.

That's why when researchers at Cornell University

gave study participants a choice between two identical items,

one labeled organic and one regular,

the participants confidently declared the organic choice

to be lower in calories and more nutritious.

They also said they'd pay 16 to 23% more for the organic choice.

But these beliefs about organic food have nothing to do with reality.

In 2012, Stanford University's Center for Health Policy

did the most comprehensive comparison

and found organic foods are not nutritionally superior

to conventional alternatives.

And a more recent review of 20 years of research

into animal products by Italian researchers confirmed these findings.

The authors concluded, scientific studies do not show

that organic products are more nutritious and safer

...