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The hype behind organic products might soon be legitimized as researchers from the South Methodist University discovered that organic produce greatly benefitted fruit flies. The research team wanted to observe the benefits of an organic diet on fruit flies and they discovered that organic foods might actually be healthier than regular foods. The findings from this study will help researchers better understand the benefits of organically grown produce for humans.

The research team looked into the benefits of four main food items, which included potatoes, raisins, soy, and bananas. They purchased the organic goods from Whole Foods in Texas. Based from the findings, the researchers concluded that when it comes to organic produce, analyzing the benefits of each produce is more effective than taking a holistic approach. The researchers found that organic potatoes, raisins and soy appeared to be linked to longer life spans in fruit flies. Bananas grown organically or conventionally did not see to have any difference on the fruit flies. However, the flies that had a strictly organic diet have better fertility rates overall.

Despite this finding, the researchers found that organic raisins appeared to have strange health side effects. Flies that consume this product had more levels of stress and higher rates of mortality when compared to the group of flies that ate regular, nonorganic raisins. The researchers expanded their study to humans and found that there were not many health differences between organic and conventionally grown produce. However, the studies done on humans and their intake on foods were limited to a two year span.

"There isn't much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you're an adult and making a decision based solely on your health," the lead researcher, Dr. Dena Bravata said.

The benefits of organic foods for fruit flies were an interesting find. It suggests that certain foods might be better grown organically while others do not need to be. However, more research on individual products would need to be done to determine if certain foods are actually better grown organically.