Hormones: Good, Bad, Ugly

[pepelect]

I had an interesting conservation with a customer at the store today.  She was buying Organic Milk.   I simply asked a question why?   I am not judging the purchase but I want to know what would make someone buy something that is 4 times higher than the plain old white stuff.   I was told there was no hormones in it.  Hormones are bad and every nonorganic product is bad for me and especially my children. 


I want facts.....Is there truth to the fact that bovine growth hormone is present in pasturized milk?

Is this bad for us?

Is there a reason hormones are used besides growth or putting entire herd in sink?

How does this cause my five year old to have to ware a bra?   

Is production beef cattle injected with this nasty evil chemical killing our youth, making us dumber, or am I missing the arguement?

I am all for home grown, unengineered products but who will pay $15 for a pound of beef.   $14 for a gallon of milk.   We have been naturally selecting for bigger loins, more milk production, and faster growth for generations.  Where does the magic start and the science stop.  People are bigger now than we were 200 years ago... Does that mean that we have been geneticly modified?

[Teresa]

I don't know.....................

[Wilma]

I heard on TV today that milk cannot be advertised as containing no growth hormones as it cannot be proven in a laboratory.  And I have yet to see anything that proves to me that growth hormones can be passed through the meat, milk, etc. that we eat.   

[srkruzich]

I don't call that stuff they sell in the stores milk.  Even the organic stuff.  First of all, organic was hijacked by the government and they allow a certain percentage of chemicals and stuff and still allow them to sell it as organic.   I only get naturally grown products as that is a whole lot stricter in that nothing can be used that is not naturally produced.
Secondly that stuff they call milk is dead.  Once you pasturize it to 180 deg nothing in it is worth drinking. You cannot assimilate the calcium in milk unless you have the enzymes in it to go with it and those enzymes are destroyed by heat.
Third the pasturization process destroys the natural vitamins in milk so they add manufactured vitamins to replace them.  Those aren't near as good as the natural ones.

[Sarah]

I'll have to see if I can dig up the article, but I read a study that the hormones in milk was causing girls to mature sooner and start having periods sooner.  Maybe that why girls in jr. high school these days look like they ought to be in college?  I don't know.  I'll have to see if I can dig it up.  But you have to know that hormones do indeed go through the milk, after all, when a woman has a baby and she's nursing the baby, we're always warned that little boy babies will tend to get "boobs" for a few weeks while nursing due to the high levels of estrogen in the milk until the hormones level out.  So, that right there proves that the hormones do indeed go into the milk.

I agree that pasturized milk, you're really not getting much out of it.  By the time the milk is done being pasturized it's pretty much dead.  But for safety's sake, if it worries you to drink raw milk, then pasturized is better.  But pretty much everything goes into the milk.  That's why on chemical wormers they have "milk and slaughter withdrawal" times. 

My BIL runs a feed lot and they have to use the hormones in beef cattle or you just can't get them up to weight fast enough to make any kind of profit on them.  They're convinced that there are no hormones in the meat.  I don't know.  I think I would rather grow out a cow the slow way and have it all natural.  shrug

[indygal]

Perhaps those curious about growth hormones, organic foods, and other food-production methods will find this link useful:

http://www.feedstuffsfoodlink.com/ME2/Default.asp

[Tobina+1]

Yes, growth hormone is in milk.  Even organic milk.  It is naturally produced from cows.  What organic has to put on the labels now is "no ARTIFICIAL growth hormones".  Which also may mean that they can give additional growth hormones to the cows, but they are created from natural ones. 
I believe that milk is more affected by what the cows eat than the meat.  Ever been in an FFA dairy contest?  They make you taste milk from cows fed all sorts of things, and it does alter the taste of the milk.  Even the difference between grain-fed and grass-fed milk is apparent in the color and taste.  (Also, I thought that babies get "boobs" (and other fatty deposits) because of the high fat content in the milk during the first few weeks?  Similar to cow's colostrum milk?)

Which also brings me to the question about beef... the taste of beef is also affected by the animal's diet.  Grass-fed beef and grain-fed beef have different flavors.  Some people have a high preference of one over the other.

But, as for any of the growth hormones, they are digested in the rumen (cow's stomach) and actually just aid in the ability of the animal to put on muscle (similar to steroids).  A lot of the common feed additives that are used in feedlots are really just feeding the "bugs" in the rumen.  The bugs have to have certain nutrients to help them be better able to break down the starches and proteins that the cattle needs to utlize it (and make muscle). 

As for the discussion on girls maturing faster... I don't think that hormones in food can completely be to blame.  I think society also causes girls to mature faster... the TV shows that are on now (kissing and worse), music, magazines, etc.  In animal science, we learned that heifers (immature cows) that are put with a bull actually come into heat (menstrual cycle) earlier than a similar set of heifers that are kept away from bulls.  That the exposure to testosterone actually creates higher levels of estrogen.

[pepelect]

Results of this study indicate that there are few and
minor differences in the composition of conventional,
rbST-free, or organic labeled milk, and that all milk is
wholesome. These conclusions are based on specific analytes
that represent milk quality and nutrients and hormones
found in all milk. It is important to appreciate that
rbST use does not affect milk composition, and that all
milk (ie, conventional, rbST-free, and organic) is compositionally
similar. Food and nutrition professionals are
well-positioned to communicate this information to the
public.
Funding for this study was provided by Monsanto Company,
LC.


Ok. So I did some homework......Conclusion:             MILK IS MILK.   

organic milk is better if you feel it is.....rbST-Free is better if you feel it is........conventional is cheapest.......

[Wilma]

And for the little bit that I put in my coffee first thing in the morning and the little bit that goes on my O's, what comes out of a can is good enough for me and keeps better.

[srkruzich]

Results of this study indicate that there are few and
minor differences in the composition of conventional,
rbST-free, or organic labeled milk, and that all milk is
wholesome. These conclusions are based on specific analytes
that represent milk quality and nutrients and hormones
found in all milk. It is important to appreciate that
rbST use does not affect milk composition, and that all
milk (ie, conventional, rbST-free, and organic) is compositionally
similar. Food and nutrition professionals are
well-positioned to communicate this information to the
public.
Funding for this study was provided by Monsanto Company,
LC.


Ok. So I did some homework......Conclusion:             MILK IS MILK.   

organic milk is better if you feel it is.....rbST-Free is better if you feel it is........conventional is cheapest.......

UHmm monsanto the company who brought us lawsuits if their GMO stuff crosses with our heirloom crops.

LOL pep if that stuff you call milk was so good for us how come we are the largest consumers of milk in this country yet have the highest rate of osteoporosis.  Says a lot about store bought milk