Is meat messing with your hormones?
When I was a teenager, I
drew comic cows. These cows often had big muscles – biceps like Olympic
athletes. I drew them because they were cute – and as a 5’5” female, I know how
strong cattle can be. Never in a million years did I consider that someday
people would think farm animals are “pumped up” on drugs.
I have since learned that apparently people think cows are on crazy
amounts steroids. That is NOT the case. It’s also not the case with chickens,
turkeys or pigs.
Yes, your bacon, burger, chicken wings, turkey breast and brats all have hormones. Hormones are in all food.
Henny Penny looked pretty normal to me when I read the classic book to my
child. I’ve since learned from other mothers that they are very concerned about
breast size. In the Henny Penny’s of the world, of course. There is a myth that
chickens and turkeys have big breasts because they’re on hormones. Both
chickens and turkeys are bred to grow larger breasts; it’s in the genetics (breeding
response to consumer demand). The use of growth hormone has not been approved
in raising chickens for 50 years. Same with turkeys. And pigs.
To be clear, no hormones are fed, injected, sprayed, sprinkled or otherwise given to swine or poultry. No chickens, turkeys, pigs, or Cornish game hens have added hormones – regardless of the label claim. There aren’t even any products manufactured to give to them.
Historically, USDA recognized the potential for consumer confusion with
product labeling. For example, some companies began requesting approval to
label chicken as “Hormone Free” and “No Added Hormones.” The USDA started
requiring these claims could not be used to market poultry unless the claim was
followed by the disclaimer “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in
poultry.”
Will you ingest hormones if you eat turkey or chicken? Yes. Will you ingest hormones if you eat kale? Yes. Does your bacon include hormones? Yes. Hormones are the chemical messengers of life – all living things have hormones.
So do you. Your body produces estrogen each day. 513,000 monograms if
you’re a woman who’s not pregnant, only to be topped by 19,600,000 nanograms of
estrogen produced daily by a pregnant woman. Men, who only produce 136,000
nanograms of estrogen/day, should perhaps reserve comment about the impact of
estrogen on female temperament.
Not to get into anyone’s business, but consider birth control pills,
testosterone therapy and hormone therapy.
What hormone dosage are you ingesting?
As an example, let’s say a 170 pound woman on low dose birth control
takes about 0.48 milligrams of estrogen monthly (not to mention the
progesterone) for 21 of 28 days every month. If she – or anyone else on hormone
therapy – stops taking it, does the hormone stop working?
Yes, hormones stop working if you no longer take them. Hormones don’t pile up in your system; they
do not have a build-up effect that prevents pregnancy, causes cancer or turns
you into the Incredible Hulk. The same
is true in both humans and beef cattle.
Hormones don’t build up.
