Growth Hormones Linked to Obesity?

[dr.mel_PT]

While sipping my almond milk this morning (thanks again ladies!!!!), I got to thinking: do you think a lot of the obesity-related cases today could be linked to ingesting the added hormones we eat in our dairy & meat products? Granted, super-sized meals and poor eating habits definitely contribute to the problem, but our society eats a lot of meat. Plus, marketing companies have been ramming dairy down our throats for a loooooooong time. Does anyone know of any studies that considered & tested this theory? Have the hormone levels been tested in obese people and compared to those of a "normal" adult?

 

[Gayle]

IMO, no. Based on the reading I've been doing lately about traditional diets, the human consumption of meat and dairy has been going on a lot longer than the current obesity epidemic.

My money is that industrial foods with their sugar, refined carbs and pseudo fats and the adverse affects they have on insulin resistance is the real cause.

As for studies that I know of, Weston Price did around 30 years of research on this. http://www.westonaprice.org/Traditional-Diets/

ETA: I'm not saying that growth hormones don't have their own set of issues, what I am saying is that in my armchair scientist opinion, meat and dairy are not the cause of obesity in this country.

 

[morningstar]

Canada doesn't allow hormones in its cow milk and allows only minimal hormones in its beef, to my knowledge (but I'm not an expert).

 

[chefling]

I'd put my money on High Fructose Corn Syrup.

 

[morningstar]

Yeah, and trans fats.

 

[Calendar Girl]

I believe the big root of the problem is High Fructose Corn Syrup also. I really think this stuff is poison and it needs to be removed from our food. But for now, I try to avoid and and limit my families intake of food containing it.

 

[Katerchen]

I read an article that blamed high fructose corn syrup for obesity. It cited a study in which rats were given regular sugar or high fructose corn syrup. The ones that ate the sugar did not gain weight, the other ones were gaining weight. The reasoning was that our body knows how to break down sugar but does not know what to do with high fructose corn syrup and therefore storing it as fat.

Food to eat is readily available in greater quantities than just 20 years ago. It's too easy to buy a burger or whatever which has a lot of calories but no staying power. If I eat a regular McMeal, I am hungry again after two hours. If I eat a whole grain cheese sandwich, 3 eggs sunny side up with bacon, or a slice of home-made rye bread with cream cheese and radishes, I last at least for four or five hours before being hungry again.

 

[morningstar]

I read an article that blamed high fructose corn syrup for obesity. It cited a study in which rats were given regular sugar or high fructose corn syrup. The ones that ate the sugar did not gain weight, the other ones were gaining weight. The reasoning was that our body knows how to break down sugar but does not know what to do with high fructose corn syrup and therefore storing it as fat.

Food to eat is readily available in greater quantities than just 20 years ago. It's too easy to buy a burger or whatever which has a lot of calories but no staying power. If I eat a regular McMeal, I am hungry again after two hours. If I eat a whole grain cheese sandwich, 3 eggs sunny side up with bacon, or a slice of home-made rye bread with cream cheese and radishes, I last at least for four or five hours before being hungry again.

I was with you right up until the radishes!

 

[cindi1]

Me too - radishes are yucky. (just kidding, no offense meant to radishes or lovers of radishes)

I can't remember which book it was in - I think it may be The End of Food. But there was an interesting discussion about how little shifts in lifestyle and caloric intake can really add up. It doesn't take a huge shift to set off an obesity epidemic. There were a number of factors sited:

- office work has changed significantly with the computer. People spend a lot more time sitting and typing. Even in the 70's you would have to go to an office, talk to people, use a typewriter, go to the mail room, etc. Little movements add up.
- children spend time in front of a screen instead of playing, TV, Computer, video games, etc.
- HFCS, Trans Fats, Processed foods - we can shovel in more calories for less money and with less effort

I don't think it is meat and dairy specifically either that is the problem.

Although anecdotally - my husband and I have tried to avoid hormones, antibiotics, HFCS, and bad fats with our kids (we haven't been 100% successful) and they are small compared to other kids. My twins just turned 13 and are barely showing signs of puberty. They are both (boy and girl) some of the smaller kids in their class. I didn't have a weight problem as a kid but I was always tall, my DH did have a weight problem and continues to struggle with his weight, he was also tall. I'm sure there are a lot of factors at play, but I think their diet has benefited them.

 

[dr.mel_PT]

I should've phrased my question better: I didn't mean that I thought dairy & meat were the causes of obesity, I just thought maybe the hormones used on the animals to produce more and larger qtys are contributing factors to the obesity epidemic. Sorry for the confusion!!! I do agree that HFCS's and an increasing sedentary lifestyle for most of us are huge HUGE factors and probably the main causes. I just also thought that the intake of these hormones probably adds to the problem.

As a side note, my mother bought eggs the other day that looked mutated. I never saw such huge things in my life!!!! It was kind of disturbing.

 

[Miss Lee]

Maybe it's just where I shop, but all of the meat and dairy at my preferred grocery store is from organic, free range, hormone and antibiotic free animals. They don't offer anything else. It is expensive but I don't mind paying more for good quality food. And it all comes from small local farms that I am familiar with.

 

[kathryn]

Hormones given to animals can definitely affect people.
I've read about cases of children as young as 5 developing breasts from comsumption of milk that was from BGH cows. I don't see why that wouldn't also affect weight (by providing more estrogen than is normal).

 

[hiitdogs]

It's not only the hormones that are injected for the cows to produce more milk. It's the nature of milk, babies, no matter if human, cows or any other mammal, have the biggest growth rate during the time that they are fed milk. Milk promotes fast growth.

I have to chuckle when I read "hormone free" milk. Really? How do you do that? Tell the cows not to produce any hormones? There will be hormones in milk, no matter what. It just get compounded by additional hormones.

No matter if you buy organic, from local farmers or have your own cow in the backyard, the consumption of hormones with milk is unavoidable. The question is just how much.

I don't think there are any studies done that would look at a possible link of dairy and obesity. I think common sense would suggest that there is a link but it goes contrary to the dairy industry claim that milk and dairy are actually promoting weightloss.