A Little Milk with Your Antibiotics and Hormones?
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. Sir Walter ScottA recent article in the New York Times disclosed that the F.D.A. has questioned the illegal levels of antibiotics in commercial milk, while the dairy industry refuses to allow testing. Reporter William Newman wrote that despite the Food and Drug Administrations intention to begin testing for antibiotics in milk, sometime this month, the dairy industry claims that testing could force farmers to needlessly dump millions of gallons of milk while they waited for test results.Naturally, the F.D.A. granted the industry a reprieve while a faster testing method could be developed; but all is not well on the U.S. milk front. Traces of antibiotics have been showing up in the nations milk supply for some time now and when the F.D.A. becomes alarmed, it must be pretty bad indeed. Surprisingly, what Neuman failed to mention was that it was because farmers accepted Monsantos offer to increase milk yields in their cows by injecting Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) that led to higher levels of antibiotics being used.Europe and Canada were intelligent enough to ban the use of rBGH because of concerns over human health and animal welfare. In American dairies the average lifespan of a dairy cow has decreased from a natural lifespan of 25 years to a mere 5 years, and those years are spent in a constant cycle of providing milk from painfully engorged udders. The pus from a cow developing mastitis ends up in the milk, which required raising the levels of antibiotics.So, to review, milk from cows treated with rBGH contains more antibiotics, bovine growth hormone, more pus, and something even more dangerous, Insulin-Like Growth Factor or IGF-1, one of the most powerful growth hormones in the human body and naturally present in cows milk.The concern is over the presence of rBGH in a dairy cows blood, because it is known to stimulate the production of IGF-1, which is what actually stimulates the production of milk. So heres the equation:! Since r BGH increases levels of IGF-1 in cows and IGF-1 causes cells to divide in humans, will increasing IGF-1 in milk cause cell division in humans that leads to tumor growth and cancer? Dr. Samual Epsteins research points to that conclusion. Excess levels of IGF-1 have been incriminated as a cause of breast, colon, and prostate cancers. The risks of cancer to consumers and particularly their children, including those enrolled in the National School Lunch Program, are indisputable.A once pure and unadulterated protein and mineral source for humans has evolved to become a highly pasteurized, homogenized, hormone loaded, antibiotic protected, pus infested product no longer resembling the original natural substance. Yes, it is cheaper than pasteurized, homogenized organic milk, but then again, you always get just what you pay for.
Delia Quigley is the Director of StillPoint Schoolhouse, where she teaches a holistic lifestyle based on her 28 years of study, experience and practice. She is the creator of the Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, Cooking the Basics, and Broken Bodies Yoga. Delia's credentials include author, holistic health counselor, natural foods chef, yoga instructor, energy therapist and public speaker. Follow Delia's blogs: brcleanse.blogspot.com and brokenbodiesyoga.wordpress.com. To view her website go to www.deliaquigley.com
