A big issue people talk a lot about today is hormone injected animals that are being raised for food. The farmers who raise these food-producing animals want them to get big, and fast, because this means they can make more money. Are these hormones affecting us as we eat the foods produced by these animals? Are the hormones affecting the environment or anything else?
A big question for me was: how are all these hormones regulated throughout the animals? After looking around I found out that only certain hormones are allowed, and even then, only certain amounts of those hormones. According to the FDA website, “The FDA approves these drugs only after information and/or studies have shown that the food from the treated animals is safe for people to eat, and that the drugs do not harm the treated animal or the environment. The drugs also have to work as intended.”
After reading this, I was a bit confused because of all the negative talk surrounding the subject. The FDA may regulate these hormones, but do we really know the long term effects they have on us? Here it shows that even the FDA approved drugs may have negative effects on humans who eat the food. According to the article I just linked, science has began to link exposure to these hormones to many illnesses, not limited to, but including, breast cancer, prostate cancer, obesity, diabetes, and Endometriosis.
The good news is, there are regulated labels and with just a little reading of this article it can help us realize what we are actually getting in the food we buy. If you read to the bottom of the website, there are 2 photos of 8 oz steaks. One represents steak that comes from a cow that has been treated with added steroids and the other represents steak from a cow that has not been treated with added steroids. The steak that comes from a cow that has been treated with added hormones has almost twice as much estrogen in it than the other steak.
My initial reaction is to worry about all the extra estrogen and other hormones in the meat, but is it truly harmful? There are only speculations so far. How do we know that this is what is causing the cancer and other health issues? It is truly hard to know if there is a third variable causing these things to happen or not. How can we know for sure if we should stay away from meat with added hormones or not? If it is truly causing cancer and other health problems, isnt it then completely unethical to continue to give the animals added steroids? Another thought: Wouldn’t it be better to play it safe than sorry, and stop with the added hormones? In America, many things are banned now but what about other countries? Take a look at this website that talks about meat in Canada. Isn’t this crazy?
Also, check out the shown in the photo to read about some pervasive myths about all natural foods.
I love eating all kinds of meat, especially steak and chicken. So when I see added hormones labeled on the products I always get a little nervous. Growth hormones do not sound that healthy for humans to consume. However, I am open to learning the positives of these hormones as well. I think that we should research into this topic more to get a real explanation and not have many live in fear.
I think that there has been a lot of fear surrounding growth hormones in animals but I don’t think that there have been enough studies or concrete evidence to prove that growth hormones in animals is dangerous and causing cancer in some people. In fact, when I looked up growth hormones on the internet, there was an article that suggested that growth hormones can actually improve cardiac function. How can something that is able to feed more people a bad thing? If growth hormones were, in fact the cause behind breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometriosis, etc. then there would way more people with these health issues than there are now. Because there are so many people who have been exposed to food treated with growth hormones. Until there have been more studies, I think people should stop being so scared and eat what they want.
I think that there has been a lot of fear surrounding growth hormones in animals but I don’t think that there have been enough studies or concrete evidence to prove that growth hormones in animals is dangerous and causing cancer in some people. In fact, when I looked up growth hormones on the internet, there was an article that suggested that growth hormones can actually improve cardiac function. How can something that is able to feed more people a bad thing? If growth hormones were, in fact the cause behind breast cancer, prostate cancer, endometriosis, etc. then there would way more people with these health issues than there are now. Because there are so many people who have been exposed to food treated with growth hormones. Until there have been more studies, I think people should stop being so scared and eat what they want.