Skip to main content

Food Trends: What's in our milk?

A big conversation piece is the concern for what is in our food.  Recently a topic of conversation was specifically about milk.  Surely, those of you with kids have also heard grumblings about the bovine growth hormone added to milk. Is this safe?  Is it responsible for early induced periods and maturing in females? What about weight?  Research on the questions above turned out to be not so impressive but some of my research provided information worth sharing.

The bovine growth hormone is a genetically engineered form of a natural hormone in cows and when injected is thought to increase milk production up to 15%.  This hormone, or bGH, was approved by the FDA in 1993 and in use throughout the US by 1994.  From the start, the Consumer’s Union warned against hazards of bGH.  It is banned in Canada and Europe as well as boycotted by 95% of the US dairy farmers. Also of note, bGH went to market without pre market safety tests.

Cows injected with bGH have increased udder infections, reproductive problems, digestive disorders, foot and leg ailments and also persistent sores.  Also, in 1998 a survey showed that cows injected with bGH were dead after 2 ½ years compared to a normal life expectancy of 15-20 years.  It is also suspected that bGH can lead to an increased production of IGF-1 (insulin growth hormone 1) that can lead to increased breast and colon cancer.

Although the research does not provide any specific data on human side effects from bGH, you have the right to decide what types of products you want to choose for yourself and your children.  Since there is no requirement for labeling for bGH it is difficult to figure out what milk has this hormone and what doesn’t.  You can always purchase organic milk and some milk will be labeled bGH free.  Kroger, Safeway, and Wal-Mart do not carry milk that contains bGH and in 1998 Starbucks banned products containing bGH.  Do you have concerns about bGH?  I want to hear about them.  Be well! 
Labels:

Comments

Beth said…
Hi Amy! Great post! I'd love to hear your thoughts on non-dairy alternatives. I've been on an enriched rice milk for a few years, and while I love the taste and the assurance that there are no hormones, antibiotics, etc., I'm not thrilled about the added oils. Along the same lines, I use a non-dairy butter. I can't taste much of a difference in the butter or rice milk(not a fan of soy)and use them in cooking as well. I'm not vegan or even vegetarian, but am primarily trying to limit consumption of animal and dairy where possible. Is it really healthier to go non-dairy if you go organic?
April 26, 2011 at 11:23 AM
Kindred Nutrition LLC said…
Hi Beth! It depends on what your motivation is to go non dairy. If it is primarily to reduce additives such as hormones and antibiotics, you can insure you are doing this if you only eat Organic dairy products. Its important to know that cows milk and eggs provide your highest biological value proteins availble. The higher the biological value the better as this rates how efficiently your body can use the protein. Non dairy products often have to be fortified with calcium, B12 and other vitamins and minerals and have approximately 40 more calories per cup than skim cow milk.

It's hard to say which is particularly healthier. If you don't have an allergy to cow's milk I'd recommend organic cows milk. It is nutrient dense and even when substitures are fortified, its hard to mimic. You could even stick with the non dairy butter etc and go with the organic cow's milk. Hope this helps!
April 26, 2011 at 3:24 PM
Nutrition for Children said…
Nice article! Thank you for sharing this great post. I've learned a lot, considering my kids are fans of milk and dairy products
November 12, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make it Happen

Parents, I see you. I see you putting everyone else's needs in front of yours. I see your dark circles under your eyes, your gray hair, that your wasting away, or that you've collectively gained weight over the years. It's time to put yourselves first because if you don't take care of yourself you won't be around to keep taking care of everyone else. So often friends, acquaintances, or clients say to me, "I don't know how you find the time to exercise." "How can you take the time away from everything else and get away to exercise?" "I wish I could actually focus on myself and exercise." Exercise to me is self care. It produces endorphins faster than any other activity I engage in. It  reduces my stress, keeps me healthy, increases flexibility, and gives me more energy to be on point with my busy kids and my demanding job. My exercise isn't extravagant and it doesn't take too much time. Here's my secret. I always
Post a Comment
Read more

Why this Dietitian Cares more about your PREbiotics than your PRObiotic Pill

Clients ask me all the time what I think of their brand of probiotic or which one they should start taking.  Studies have shown that probiotic supplements definitely have their place in certain circumstances (that’s a whole other blog for another time), but my bigger concern is... what are you feeding the ones you have already? “Probiotics” is just a fancy word for helpful bacteria.  Even if you don’t take a pill, you have these little guys in your digestive track.  The problem right now is that current probiotic supplements can only include the bacteria that scientists have been able to 1) identify and 2) put in a pill without them dying right away.   However, we (probiotic and non-probiotic users alike) have so many different strains of bacteria (somewhere in the neighborhood of billions) who do so much good for us such as make vitamins and help battle bad bacteria.  BUT - just like us - they need to eat!  A recent study showed that a diet high in protein is not in their
Post a Comment
Read more

To The Bones- A review from a dietitian

Friday July 14th, Netflix premiered the movie To The Bone.  Prior to the premier many had opinions of the movie. Some were fearful that it would glorify an Eating Disorder, some felt the movie would put too much focus on extremely thin patients with Eating Disorders neglecting those that are within normal weight but still extremely sick, and many had a lot of opinions about the lead actress who lost a significant amount of weight for the role disclosing she is in recovery for an Eating Disorder. My colleagues and I discussed the pretense of the movie, I communicated to families that the movie was coming out in case their daughters and sons watched the movie, and Friday I went home from work and viewed the movie. Although Hollywood has a way of sensationalizing everything there was a lot that the movie got right. The opening scene where Ellen counts the calories as soon as she sees the food is a good depiction of how someone with an Eating Disorder thinks. Food is not sensual it i
Post a Comment
Read more