Yes ma’am, Brown Bessie & all her gal pals are just sick about what’s being added to their milk! – literally!
The problems started in 1993 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) to increase milk production. Farmers inject rBGH into cows biweekly to induce them to produce more milk than they normally would.
According to the American Cancer Society, Canada, the European Union and some other countries have not jumped on the bandwagon. You won’t be surprised when you learn what this stuff is and what it does. . .
This hormone is genetically engineered, which ought to make you suspicious right away. It’s manufactured by Monsanto and is sometimes called Bovine Somatotropin (rBST). It is similar, though not identical, to a hormone that cows naturally produce.
Unnaturally high levels of this hormone boost milk production… but as you may have guessed, rBGH causes a number of problems with the milk, including:
• Increased levels of pus
• Residues of antibiotics
• Higher levels of a hormone called Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1)
Each of these consequences is cause for alarm, but the production of the hormone IGF-1is especially troubling.
This hormone is directly responsible for increasing milk production. According to some Monsanto studies, using rBGH raises IGF-1 levels about five times above normal levels.
IGF-1 is a naturally-occurring hormone that’s found in both cow’s milk and human milk. Its purpose is to help cells grow. It’s responsible in part for the quick growth of infants in both species.
But here’s the difference…
The IGF-1 hormone in humans is usually bound to protein and thus has a weaker effect than unbound IGF-1 in milk. And please note, IGF-1 is NOT destroyed in the pasteurization process nor during human digestion and is therefore biologically active in humans.
So when young children, adolescents and adults drink cow’s milk—it’s likely that IGF-1 behaves as a cancer-accelerator! The substance encourages cell division in your body. Healthy cells divide and then are signaled by their genes and hormones when it’s time to STOP dividing.
After a certain amount of time (or cell divisions), healthy cells are actually instructed to die—that is, undergo programmed cell death (apoptosis)—to make room for new cells.
If something throws this process out of whack and prevents programmed cell death from occurring, it can cause cells to grow out of control.
Uncontrolled cell growth is more or less another way of saying cancer (it is characteristic of some other diseases, too, but it’s the defining feature of cancer). So it’s no surprise to find that studies have linked excess IGF-1 to cancers of the breast, colon and prostate.
But aside from causing cancer in us, this unnatural chemical intervention inflicts some damage on the cows that can pose additional health problems for humans…
You won’t want this ‘secret ingredient’
in your milk!
in your milk!
Whenever rBGH is used to rev up milk production, the cows tend to become more susceptible to udder infections classified as mastitis.
A mastitis infection can increase the amount of cow’s pus which ends up in milk. Monsanto has admitted that their study data show a whopping 79 percent increase in mastitis in cows injected with rBGH.
This, in turn, causes a 19 percent increase in the amounts of pus and bacteria in milk.
Monsanto even admits this on the warning label for their Posilac drug (their brand name for rBGH). Besides the increased possibility of pus and bacteria in your milk, the label also states:
“…use of POSILAC may result in an increase in digestive disorders such as indigestion, bloat, and diarrhea…. Studies indicated that cows injected with POSILAC had increased numbers of enlarged hocks and lesions (e.g., lacerations, enlargements, calluses) of the knee…and…of the foot region.”
I don’t know about you, but I don’t find it appetizing to think about much less drink pus-contaminated milk from sick cows. But you might be wondering if there’s something that can be done to help the cows heal so that no pus winds up in milk.
Well there IS, but it happens to be…
Antibiotics that DON’T do a body good!
Cows suffering from mastitis are treated with antibiotics to help eliminate the infections. But this only increases your chances of having antibiotic residues present in your milk.
The American Cancer Society and other defenders of rBGH insist that any such residues will not pose a significant risk to human health. But a quick scan of today’s health headlines will tell you that a different scenario is more likely: Increased antibiotic use in food animals may contribute to the development of more strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
The American Cancer Society and other defenders of rBGH insist that any such residues will not pose a significant risk to human health. But a quick scan of today’s health headlines will tell you that a different scenario is more likely: Increased antibiotic use in food animals may contribute to the development of more strains of antibiotic resistant bacteria.
This, in turn, can lead to an increase in human infections that are difficult to treat.
So what can you do if you’re concerned about excess hormones and other nasty ingredients creeping into your milk supply? Well, some folks opt for purchasing organic and sustainably produced milk.
Still others have switched to using almond and rice milks.
I’ve nearly eliminated milk products from my own diet. On the rare occasions when I have milk, I make sure it’s produced without rBGH, other hormones, or antibiotics.
I urge you to do the same. These steps can go a long way toward protecting you from ingesting excess hormones and the health nightmares that can result!
http://www.cancerdefeated.com/if-cows-could-talk-theyd-tell-you-to-steer-clear-of-bovine-growth-hormones/2576/
