What's in Your Milk?

From cell-biology.org Good argument for drinking almond milk.....

Today, it’s pretty understood, as well as accepted, that you’re not going to be able to recognize most of the ingredients in a Twinkie. Actually you probably won’t even be able to pronounce most of them. But we get that because Twinkies aren’t real food. No one ever has, or ever will, see a wild Twinkie; we don’t even expect to see a Twinkie at our local bakery.

However, we do expect products like Milk to have a relatively simple ingredient list. Like one that reads: “Milk” for instance. Unfortunately, we’re getting more than good old American milk when we buy our average gallon of milk at the supermarket.

Synthetic Hormones
Most industrial farmers in the United States treat their cows with synthetic Bovine somatotropin, or rBGH. This hormone, that is found in cow’s milk, is supposed to help the cows grow big and strong, but in humans it can cause things like early puberty and even breast cancer.

Cows are also treated with the reproductive hormones estradiol, testosterone and IGF-1 which also turn up in our milk. Although the FDA says that the majority of these hormones are burned out of the milk through the pasteurization process, most European nations and all of Canada don’t take the risk.

What Can We Do about It?
One option is to buy organic, as most organic milks will not have used cows that have been supplemented with hormones.
However, you have to be careful because some organic milks get away with using cows that have been treated with natural hormones rather than synthetic. Although there is some debate as to whether the natural hormones are safer for you, there is still the problem of having more hormones than you need in your system. This invariably will cause side-effects down the road.

As of right now, the most solid options are milk alternatives like soy, almond and rice milk. There is also the responsibility that we all have to voice our opinion through the legislature and write your congressperson or just get out and vote!