Robert Cohen wrote:
> > HORMONES IN MILK
> >
> > There ar at least 7 pituitary hormones that I am aware of to found in
> > cow's milk in bioactive form  They include oxytocin, lutenizing hormone
> > (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH).
> >
> > There are also seven steroid hormones, seven hypothalamic hormones, nine
> > gastrointestinal peptides, six thyroid and parathyroid hormones, ten
> > growth factors, and at least 10 other hormones not fitting into the
> > above categories such as cyclic AMP, lactoferrin, transferrin,
> > casomorphin etc.
> >
> > I can give you dozens of reasons not to drink milk and you can play
> > devil's advocate with most of them and we can debate these issues
> > until'the cows come home'.
I am not trying to play devil's advocate or looking for absolute proof, etc.
I wanted to see what was different about milk, as opposed to the other
animal products that also contain hormones naturally present in them.
For example, if I eat an egg, or a steak there are all sorts of hormones
in them in various amounts. Simple presence of them does not scare me.
What I wanted to know if they were present in milk in larger amounts
or there was something else about it that made their absorbtion easier.
 
> > However, one issue that cannot be debated is that milk is a hormonal
> > delivery system.
 
> > There are many mechanisms protecting these hormones.  Casein is one of
> > them.  However, the key factor in the survival of these peptides is the
> > buffering effect that milk has on the gastric environment.
> >
> > The acidity in your stomach is usually a pH of under 2.0
> >
> > A 12 ounce glass of milk buffers the gastric environment to a 6.0!
 
OK, so the acidity of the milk protects the hormones. Is this still a factor
with things like yogurt that are far more acid than milk? I have long stopped
drinking milk itself for various reasons. One of them being added vitamins
A and D. Between what's in milk, what's in my multi, and what's in my food
I was getting enough to be close to OD'ing on them. Too bad you can't get
A/D free milk (at least one of those is required by law here to be added).
The other reason I don't drink milk is that it is pasturized. I personally
believe that there are enzymes present in milk to break down casein. That's
why mothers milk does not bother us, while cows milk does. Pasturization
destroys those enzymes, so we have all the problems.
However, I still eat yogurt and cheeses because there are no added A/D and
they are 'live' foods (excluding some cheeses). In yogurt you get live bacteria
that presumably contains many of the things (enzymes, etc) that are needed to
digest milk properly, as well as digest the bacteria itself properly.
 
> > In my research I include approximately 300 references, none of which I
> > am citing here.  However, I would be happy to discuss any issue with you
> > and include documentation and references from refereed journals.
 
One thing specifically that interests me is finding enzyme(s) that would
break up milk proteins properly so there would be no reaction to them. Are
there any studies on that?
 
> > On August 24, 1990, FDA published an article in the journal, SCIENCE.
> > That paper, authored by Judy Juskevich and Greg Guyer, is one of the
> > great FRAUDS and CRIMES of the 20th century.  That paper was intended to
> > end the controversy surrounding genetically engineered milk hormones,
> > now in our food supply.
> >
> > After a cow is injected with rbST (recombinant bovine somatotropin, also
> > known as rbGH-recombinant bovine growth hormone) the level of
> > Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-1) in her milk always increases.
> >
 
I only eat organic foods now (specially dairies) that have no additional
hormones in them. If the major hormonal problems occur as a result of
ADDED hormones then this would not be a problem for me.
 
> > The normal presence of IGF-1 in milk is dangerous to all humans!
> >
Do you mean by this the levels present even in organic dairies? What
about yogurt? The reason I bring up yogurt again is that many hormones
do not survive very long in live organisms. In pasturized milk (assuming
the hormones survive pasturization) there is nothing else do destroy them
but oxygen and time. In live dairies there are bacteria that might do
the job.
 
> > If I were to offer you a pill in my outstretched hand saying, "Take
> > this. It contains 3000 nanograms of the most powerful growth hormone
> > normally present in your body," Would you?  You ingest the same amount
> > of this powerful growth factor each time you drink one 12 ounce glass of
> > "wholesome milk."
> >
> > Since IGF-I is identical in the number of amino acids (70) between cows
> > and humans, and those amino acids are in the same sequence, well..figure
> > it out.  It doesn't take much.
> >
> > IGF-I has been identified as the key factor in the growth and
> > proliferation of (already existing) cancers in humans!
 
Why are you worried specifically over IGF-I in dairies, rather than all the
other hormones in them? (Or am I reading too much into this?) Is IGF-I
present in milk in excessive concentrations compared to other hormones?
As I recall it is not a particularly stable hormone. Do you know if
boiling milk will destroy it?
 
Hope I am not being to annoying with all these questions.
 
Ilya.