The Cumulative Effect on Our Children

Hormones are injected into cattle and sheep to promote weight gains in the animals. The faster weight gains reduce the waiting time for the animals’ slaughter, speeding the meat to the dinner table.

Dairy cows are injected with hormones to increase milk production. This increase in milk production requires frequent milking of dairy cows, which in turn leads to udder irritations and infections that require treatment with antibiotics. Since the infections don’t always completely clear up, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permits a certain amount of pus to remain in the milk. This is the same agency that permitted synthetic estrogens (DES) to be used to increase the size of cattle and chickens in the early 1950’s. When DES was found to cause cancer, it was phased out in the late 1970’s only to be replaced by other steroid hormones.

According to a report by Cornell University, there are six different kinds of steroid hormones that are currently approved by the FDA for use in food production: estuarial and progesterone which are natural female sex hormones; testosterone, the natural male sex hormone; zeranol, trenbolone acetate and melengesterol acetate which are synthetic growth promoters (chemicals that make animals grow faster.) And, let’s not forget the protein hormone rbGH to increase milk production in dairy cattle.

Do these hormones that have been added to our food affect human health? Very few independent studies have been conducted to determine the effect. Scientists at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine have reviewed the studies submitted by the manufacturers of rbGH, the hormone given to dairy cattle. Based on the reports by the manufacturers, the FDA concluded rbGH does not affect human health. The FDA does not mention any independent studies in reaching this conclusion.

Doctors recognize girls are maturing earlier than ever. According to the University of North Carolina, girls are entering puberty as young as eight years old. Several research studies from other universities indicate boys are experiencing decreases in sperm count. Lifetime exposure to estrogen as well as other hormones are known to increase the risk of breast cancer and may account for decrease in sperm count. Bacteria are becoming immune to antibiotics’ fighting properties. Researchers are concerned cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and hyperactivity in children are exacerbated by the chemicals in our conventionally produced food. These are the outgrowths of the Cumulative Effect.

How can we combat the disastrous consequences of the Cumulative Effect that is affecting the health and welfare of our families? We must eliminate the added hormones and antibiotics from our diet. The three most commonly eaten foods with the highest concentrations of added hormones and antibiotics are milk, chicken, and eggs. Switching to organics for these three foods are the best first choices to removing these damaging additives in our children’s diet.

It is essential that each one of us as parents and consumers stop the out reaching impact the Cumulative Effect is having on our children’s health. Their well-being is dependent upon our actions.