An international team of experts led by Prof. Carlo Leifert (Southern Cross University, Australia; University of Oslo, Norway) and Prof. Chris Seal (Newcastle University, Great Britain) with the participation of Polish scientists from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW): Dr Dominiki Średnicka-Tober, SGGW and Dr Marcin Barański had come to the conclusion that a change from the typical “Western” diet to the Mediterranean one, rich in fruit and vegetables, can be considered one of the most beneficial for the health. This can be associated with increased exposure to numerous pesticides being hazardous to health.

The results of the research carried out in Crete were published in The American Journal for Clinical Nutrition.

The researchers noted that the switch from a “Western” diet to a Mediterranean lifestyle with high fruit and vegetable intake resulted in more than 3 times the total consumption of insecticides and organic phosphate.

Following a Mediterranean diet of “conventional” foods also results in 10 times higher total pesticide consumption than a Mediterranean diet made entirely of organic foods.

The team of experts concluded that the main way to reduce this negative effect, which has a negative impact on health in the long term, is to compose a Mediterranean diet of wholly raw materials and organic products.

Adrian Andrzejewski