In 2017, I made a conscious decision to live a healthier, happier and fulfilling life. I’ve made it a point to be more physically active and have become aware of the certain kind of nutrients being put into my body. In my journey, I have discovered many disturbing truths. Pesticides are being used in our produce, steroids are being injected into our meats and hormones are being added to cow’s milk. All of these immediately raised red flags for me and are a cause of great concern. Hormones have been used for decades in our meat and in our dairy. The most common hormones are synthetic estrogen and testosterone. So why would they find it necessary to inject animals with hormones? The answer is simple: hormones make the animals grow larger and meatier. The more meat, the more profit. Hormones also help produce more milk in cows. While the FDA has approved certain kinds of hormones to treat our food, it doesn’t necessarily mean its safe. Modern food now encompasses a wide range of synthetic chemicals. However, exposure to high concentrations of these chemicals or exposure to low concentrations over an extended period of time is harmful and dangerous to humans. Exposure to certain hormones has been long linked to different types of cancer. For example, it is widely known that high exposure over a lifetime to estrogen increases the risk for breast cancer. Also, high exposure to sex hormones has been linked to early puberty in girls and other health issues. So then, why would the FDA approve the use of estrogen (or any hormone) as safe for use and consumption in our food? According to the FDA website, “Since the 1950s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a number of steroid hormone drugs for use in beef cattle and sheep, including natural estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and their synthetic versions. These drugs increase the animals’ growth rate and the efficiency by which they convert the feed they eat into meat.” The FDA adds, “Using scientific data, FDA establishes the acceptable safe limits for hormones in meat. A safe level for human consumption is a level of drug in the meat that would be EXPECTED to have no harmful effect in humans based on extensive scientific study and review.” Sadly, little research has been done by the FDA to ensure that the hormones being added to our meat and dairy are harmless. Little is scientifically known of the effects of added hormones, in part, because it is difficult to separate the natural occurring hormones in animals from the synthetic hormones, proteins and other components. Industry funded research shows little to no effects of added hormones, but independent studies have shown otherwise. Even the FDA states themselves that it reaches the conclusion on what hormone amounts are safe based on EXPECTATIONS.
Dairy is robust with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) . This is a different class of hormone that increases the amount of milk dairy cows produce. Little is known on how rBGH affects humans, but some research suggests rBHG is linked to an increase in cancers. The European Union has banned all hormones in beef, and Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the EU have banned rBGH. No major studies are under way in the U.S. to evaluate the safety of hormones in meat and milk.