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Dairy Milk Hormones’ Effects on Cancer

The AHA! Team — Fri, 07 Jun 2024 08:44:47 +0000

Michael Greger M.D. FACLM via Nutrition Facts – What are the effects of the female sex hormones in cow’s milk on men, women, and children? All foods of animal origin contain hormones, but most of our dietary exposure to hormones comes from dairy products. By quantity, as you can see below and at 0:16 in my video The Effects of Hormones in Dairy Milk on Cancer, it is mostly prolactin, corticosteroids, and progesterone, but there are also a bunch of estrogens, which concentrate even further when other dairy products are made. For instance, Hormones are five times more concentrated in cream and cheese, and ten times more in butter. When it comes to steroid hormones in the food supply, about three-quarters of our exposure to ingested female sex steroids come from dairy, and the rest is split evenly between eggs and meat (including fish). Indeed, eggs contribute about as much as all meat combined, which makes a certain amount of sense since an egg comes straight from a hen’s ovary. Among the various types of meat, you get as much from white meat (fish and poultry) as you do from pork and beef, and this is just from natural hormones—not added hormone injections, like bovine growth hormone. So, it doesn’t matter if the meat is organic. Animals produce hormones because they’re animals, and their hormones understandably end up in animal products. About half of the people surveyed “did not know that milk naturally contains hormones,” and many “lacked basic knowledge (22% did not know that cows only give milk after calving)”—that is, they didn’t realize what milk is for—feeding baby calves. Researchers suggested we ought to inform the public about dairy production practices. In response, one Journal of Dairy Science respondent wrote that telling the public about the industry’s new technologies, like transgenic animals (meaning genetically engineered farm animals), “or contentious husbandry practices” (such as taking away that newly born calf so we can have more of the milk or “zero-grazing for dairy cows”—i.e., not letting cows out on grass), “does not result in high rates of public approval,” so ixnay on the educationay. The public may not know the extent to which they are exposed to estrogen through the intake of commercial milk produced from pregnant cows, which has potential public health implications. Modern genetically improved dairy cows, can get reimpregnated after giving birth and lactate throughout almost their entire next pregnancy “Modern genetically improved dairy cows, such as the Holstein,” the stereotypical black and white cow, can get reimpregnated after giving birth and lactate throughout almost their entire next pregnancy, which means that, these days, commercial cow’s milk contains large amounts of pregnancy hormones, like estrogens and progesterone. As you can see in the graph below and at 2:42 in my video, during the first eight months of a pregnant cow’s nine-month gestation, hormone levels in her milk shoot up more than 20-fold. Even so, we’re only talking about a millionth of a gram per quart, easily 10 to 20 times less estrogen hormones than you’d find in a birth control pill. In that case, would drinking it really have an effect on human hormone levels? Researchers analyzed three different estrogens and one progesterone metabolite flowing through the bodies of seven men before and after they drank about a liter of milk. Within hours of drinking the milk, their hormone levels shot up, as you can see in the graph below and at 3:08 in my video. The researchers also looked at the average levels of female sex steroids flowing through the bodies of six schoolchildren (with an average age of eight) before and after they drank about two cups of milk. Within hours of drinking the milk, their levels shot up, tripling or quadrupling their baseline hormone levels, as you can see in the graph below and at 3:23 in my video. So, one can imagine the effects milk might have on men or prepubescent children, but what about women? Presumably, women would have high levels of estrogen in their body in the first place, wouldn’t they? Well, not all women. What about postmenopausal women and endometrial cancer, for example? Estrogens have “a central role” in the development of endometrial cancer, cancer of the lining of the uterus. “Milk and dairy products are a source of steroid hormones and growth factors that might have physiological effects in humans.” So, Harvard researchers followed tens of thousands of women and their dairy consumption for decades and found a significantly higher risk of endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women who consumed more dairy, as shown below and at 4:19 in my video. What about dietary exposure to hormones and breast cancer? Unfortunately, “understanding the role of dietary hormone exposure in the population burden of breast cancer is not possible at this time.” For more on the relationship between cancer and dairy, see related videos below. I talk about the effect of dairy estrogen on men in Dairy Estrogen and Male Fertility. What about the phytoestrogens in soy? See here. Key Takeaways Although hormones are in all animal products, the majority (about three-quarters) of our dietary exposure comes from milk and other dairy products. The hormones in milk concentrate even further when other dairy products are produced—e.g., five times more concentrated in cream and cheese, and ten times more in butter. The rest (about one-quarter) of our exposure to ingested female sex steroids is split evenly between eggs and meat (including fish), with eggs contributing about as much as all meats combined and white meat (fish and poultry) contributing about as much as pork and beef. About 50 percent of people surveyed didn’t know that hormones are naturally found in milk, and more than one in five didn’t know that cows only produce milk after calving (intended to feed their calves). In response to the suggestion that consumers should be informed of dairy production practices, a Journal of Dairy Science respondent disagreed, believing that telling the public about practices, such as genetically engineering animals, removing calves soon after birth, and keeping cows off grass or pasture, “does not result in high rates of public approval.” Today, dairy cows may be reimpregnated after giving birth and lactate throughout nearly their whole pregnancy. So, large amounts of pregnancy hormones, like estrogens and progesterone, can be found in commercial cow’s milk. Researchers found that hormone levels shot up in men and school-aged kids within hours of drinking about a liter of milk. Estrogens play “a central role” in the development of endometrial cancer, and researchers found a significantly greater risk of this type of cancer among postmenopausal women who consume more dairy, which is a source of steroid hormones and growth factors. Regarding breast cancer and dietary exposure to hormones, “understanding the role” isn’t currently possible. To read the original article click here.

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A Biological Alternative to Antibiotics for Dairy Cows

AHA Publisher — Mon, 11 Jan 2021 08:00:53 +0000

Brian Blum via Israel21c – Unless you’re a dairy farmer, bovine mastitis is the killer disease you’ve probably never heard of. This infection around the udder is now the most frequent disease of dairy cows. It’s costing the industry between $20 billion and $30 billion a year and contributing to an increasing number of deaths among humans that result from a proliferation of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. The scourge of the superbugs comes from the fact that antibiotics are the main therapy used in treating bovine mastitis. The overuse of antibiotics in cows allows antimicrobial-resistant pathogens to make their way to people via the milk they drink. Resistant superbugs cause an estimated 700,000 deaths a year around the world, with the total predicted to rise to 10 million by 2050. Costs associated with death and loss in productivity could run $100 trillion globally, according to a UK government report. Israeli biopharmaceutical startup Mileutis has developed its first product, Imilac, an injectable product that stimulates the cow’s immune system to fight mastitis. It’s similar to immunotherapy medications that are transforming cancer treatment in humans. “Mileutis” is a portmanteau of “mil” for milk, “eut” from therapeutics, and “is,” Greek for knowledge. Safe for Humans Because Imilac is based on peptides that already exist in cow’s milk, the formulation is considered safe for human consumption. The European Medicines Agency ruled that Imilac, which contains the protein casein hydrolysate, doesn’t require a “Maximum Residue Limit” evaluation to determine if there is a dangerously high concentration of a pharmacologically active substance from a food of animal origin. Imilac was developed originally at the governmental Volcani Center Agricultural Research Organization in Rishon LeZion. Mileutis CEO David Javier Iscovich tells ISRAEL21c that he and his father were looking for an innovative biological technology they could build into a company. The two, originally from Argentina, weren’t thinking about cows at first. The senior Iscovich – José – is an experienced immunobiologist who focused on the epidemiology of cancer in human health for most of his career. David worked in his father’s lab as a research assistant from a young age. “We reviewed 14 projects in Israel and the US until someone offered us a project on animal health,” David Iscovich recalls. “We saw the results and we said, ‘Wow, this is the one. This is going to change the industry.’” ‘There’s No Solution’ It’s a big industry: an estimated 275 million dairy cows worldwide. A survey by the US Food and Drug Administration found that 95% of dairy cows are treated with antibiotics at least once a year. The problem of antibiotic overuse is a direct result of the growth of industrial farming, Iscovich points out. Fifty years ago, when a cow got infected with mastitis, she would be given time to rest while her immune system did its work. But now, each cow is pumped for so much milk, there’s no flexibility to give the cow a break to get better. Antibiotics were introduced to kill the pathogen so that it does not infect the milk. Today, some 70% of the antibiotics administered in the world today are for animals. The problem arises when pathogens learn to resist antibiotics in animals and then leap to humans. Antibiotic overrun from farms can seep into the surrounding ecosystem, which can also reach humans. “We go to the hospital, the antibiotics don’t work, and we die,” Iscovich says bleakly. “There’s no solution.” Overuse of antibiotics in animals has led some European countries to begin restricting their use. Will Imalic replace antibiotics entirely? “I don’t think it will be 100%,” Iscovich says. “But for mastitis, I think we will be able to reduce antibiotic use by 90% to 95%.” Second Product in Development Imilac is intended to be used once a year as a preventative. A second Mileutis product in development, Milac, attacks the pathogen itself and is used if a cow gets infected during the lactation period. Imilac has passed several clinical trials in Israel. It has received support from the Hachaklait Veterinary Services group, which has supplied it to dairy farmers. Mileutis submitted its application for full approval to the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture in 2019 and is awaiting authorization. It is in advanced stages with regulators in the US and the European Union, as well. In the meantime, the company has built a production line in Israel. “We’re ready to go,” Iscovich says. In October, Mileutis raised $20 million from NovaQuest Capital Management to bring its products to markets beyond Israel. This is NovaQuest’s first investment in the animal healthcare field and its first in an Israeli company. Mileutis previously raised money from private investors. Mileutis, which has a staff of 30 and its office and factory close to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, has been working on its residue-free, biologically based antibiotic alternative since 2004. At the time, there were few competitors. Now there’s “a buzz on antibiotic solutions but [other companies] are at a very early stage” compared with Mileutis, Iscovich explains. “It will take them many years to get to where we are today.” For more information, click here To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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