Babies and Beef
Ever wonder what’s in the beef you eat? There’s more than just beef. Pesticides, hormones, and other contaminants are found within cattle feed that is given to cows that are used for beef. When eaten by the cattle, these chemicals build up within the fat of the cow. Hormones are given to the cattle to boost their size so that the farmers can increase the amount of meat produced. This is prominent in America, although the European Union has recognized the dangers of hormones and banned the sale of hormone latent beef in 1988.
In this week’s Scientific American there is an article explaining the problems caused by eating beef while pregnant. A test group of 387 women from five United States cities was used to show the affect of eating beef while pregnant. The relationship was between how much beef these women ate and the sperm count of their sons. High beef consumption was classified as more than seven beef meals per week. The sons of these high beef consuming women showed to have 24.3 percent less sperm concentration than the sons of women who did not eat such high amounts of beef. Shanna Swan, the team leader, said “The average sperm concentration of the men in our study went down as their mothers’ beef intake went up. But this needs to be followed carefully before we can draw any conclusions.”
It is interesting to see the connection between what one eats and the affect on their child. In utero a fetus gets all its nutrients from the mother. It doesn’t seem surprising that foods that are affected by chemicals in turn affect the mother’s child. One would think that if a mother ate junk food, it probably wouldn’t be good for the child. Hormones used within livestock are a problem that must be dealt with. Many of them have adverse affects on not only the livestock but the humans who eat the animals. Milk and dairy products usually come from cows that have been treated with rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone). This hormone causes increased milk production but an infection in the udders of the cow. A lot of times this can lead to puss in rBGH treated cow’s milk. These hormones are used to increase farmer’s yield, but by increasing farmer’s yield we are causing problems for ourselves. Hormone treatment of livestock is a problem that needs to be dealt with not only for the sake of humans but also that of livestock.
-Chris
posted by PWH @ 2:34 PM
25 comments
25 Comments:
This article gave me even more reason to be a vegetarian! This is a really intersting topic and one that really makes sense. Something to consider even more is whether or not the mother was affected by eating these hormones. I doubt it would be only the fetus of pregnant women being affected. Afterall, the same hormones have to enter the mother's system before they enter the baby's.
Overall, really intersting (and kind of disturbing) information!
This article is interesting based on hte fact that it has so much information I was unaware of. As a result of this blog I have come to the conclusion that an alternative source of hormone should be used on these livestock in order to ensure the health and safety of those people who are exposed to it. Possible regulations from the FDA should be imposed regarding this issue and more research should definetly be done in order to get a better understanding of how these products from animals are effecting human bodies.
This is really interesting, especially the part about rBGH. I've done some reading about this before, and it turns out that not only can the puss from udder infections end up in the milk we consume, but the antibiotics used to treat the infections can as well. The presence of antibiotics in dairy products can lead to mutations which later render antibiotics less effective when we acually need them. This shows that the use of horomones in livestock really needs to be addressed. The post is also clear and well-written, so it's easy to understand, even if you don't know a lot about the topic.
This article is very interesting. It certainly makes sense that what a mother eats will directly affect her baby. What is it exactly that causes the mothers son to have a lower sperm count? Is it just an affect of the chemicals? Also, why don’t these chemicals affect the mother (or people) in general when they eat beef. Or do they affect them but just not as strongly since infants and babies in the womb are much more susceptible to anything harmful. Also when did they obtain the sperm count of the mother’s sons? I agree that the use of hormone treatment in livestock needs to be dealt with. It is just cruel how many of the animals we eat and get food from are treated. Although some people may not care about this, perhaps they will care when they realize that is hurting humans also. Your blog was very interesting.
Posted by KMellman
I'm so glad that you chose to write about this topic - it's definitely scary how many hormones and pesticides are in the food we eat and how detrimental they can be to babies as well as ourselves. I think the more people that realize what is in the food we eat and the more people who decide to eat free-range, grass-fed, all natural meats, the better off we will all be.
Do you know why we as a country are so behind the UK when it comes to passing legislation that bans the use of these types of hormones and pesticides? I mean, they passed this legislation almost 20 years ago! Have there been any attempts in the U.S. to do the same type of thing??
- Maija Cheung
This is a very important topic to discuss since its becaming an issue.
I agree to what you are saying because i have experienced it my self, coming from anther country. From where i came, i was used to natural thing, coming here i was exposed to hormones, which in turn had a negative affect on me, my health was not good and i able to gain significent amount of weight. Based on my personcal experience, i was able to conclude that, as we intake any product that has hormones, the hormones then get into our body and change things around causing health issues.
So know that we are well aware of this issue what can we do to stop the production of products with hormones? Is there a chance that the U.S. might banned the sale of hormone latent beef as the Europeans?
Kebrewosen Densamo
This article makes a very important point which is and should be a growing concern for society. It is amazing and shocking to think that people trust and purchase beef in the supermarket assuming it is of good quality. When in return, the producers are adding hormones to increase their cattle production so that they can receive more money.
The food should be monitored more carefully and closely so that society will not be faced with the damaging results to the fetus and each individual.
-innocen5
Somewhat scary post. It makes me realize how much junk we really eat. It is especially frightening because not only cows have high levels of hormones, but chickens do too, making most of our meat/dairy intake detrimental to our health. You mentioned the E.U. banning the sale of hormone latent beef, but I wondered, has America done anything about it? Also, could hormones be linked to the predominant obesity problem? This topic should be looked upon more seriously and measures should be taken to avoid the poisoning of an entire nation.
Benhayo6
I find it very intersting that there is an apparent link between male's sperm count and how much beef was consumed during their mother's pregancy. Today it is all about mass producing and who can make the most money; however, in Europe they banned hormonal use in their beef. You should maybe explain why they did this because it would make your arguement stronger. Another thing that you could consider adding is if the United States is concerned about this problem or not. All in all it is a very informative and well written blog.
sniezek 6
It amazeses me that our American society which is supposed to be superior to everyone else in the world loves to cut corners. The fact that other contries pass laws for the benifit of their people and the future of their people and we continue to ingnore warning signs really scares me. The fact that Europe got rid of hormones in beef over 15 years ago is mind boggling. If there is eveidence supporting the side effects of these hormones used why do we ignore them? The US recently did not sign a treaty which would help our economy reduce our carbon output and help reduce how much we destroy our planet. Yet again a step in the direction to not only better outselves but better our future. The fact that the US continutally allows these major decisions to be passed by should cause concern. Where will this country be in 10, 20, 30 years? Is money all that matters because that is what America seems to care about. Dont they care about their peoples health and well being. It is a shame we let money run the world we live in. I can only dream of a day when people act on and follow their values instead of act on numbers.
Dannenb7 18863732
I thought this article was very interesting and well written. Not a lot of people realize that the meat they eat contains hormones, and that it can have an effect on their children. This is definitely an important issue that needs to be dealt with and opened up to the public.
-distasi6
I thought this entry was very interesting. We've just been talking about intake of protein in my Kin class and how important it is. I knew that animals are given certain substances in order to increase farmer's profits, but I was unaware of the effects like the decreased sperm count. I also thought it was very interesting to see that use of the hormones used here had been outlawed in other countries. How big is this problem really? What are other effects that can be seen due to consuming beef? It's interesting to see adverse effects on the child in it's mother's womb, but not on the mother herself. Why is this? This one got me thinking, so thanks for that.
Barrett6
This topic is very interesting and I think that it includes alot of information that the public is unaware. Is there a certain amount of beef that mother's should eat when pregnant or should they just refrain from eating it all together? Also if you buy organic meats or meats from a local farm is there a lower risk of being affected by hormones?
I think that you have chosen a very interesting topic, a topic that would definitely cause changes in the diets of pregnant women in the future if the research was further proven.
I think that the testing definitely needs more than the number of people that you stated and also a greater population pool and range to collect information from. Only using a small number of American states doesn't reflect the entire population. Who exactly are these 400 or so people and what ethicity are they? What about those living on the country-side or suburbs or even those who live in other countries including France, Russia, or even Japan? What about different races and what their diets are? Some cultures favor different foods in their diets. Is beef the staple food in any specific culture's diet and has that affected how big their people are or how great their population is?
Also, you refer to beef affecting babies, but you mainly talk about baby boys. What about baby girls?
interesting blog, good to see that someone is finally addressing this problem. a few questions though. might wanna include what specifically is being done at a governmental level in terms of banning hormones in the US? Funny to see that europe is way ahead of us on this issue, as they are most of the time. Also, are there any other complications besides low sperm count, seems like a random study.
bio 101 - houlihan
#20791141
This is a very important topic to discuss since its becaming an issue.
I agree to what you are saying because i have experienced it my self, coming
from anther country. From where i came, i was used to natural thing, coming
here i was exposed to hormones, which in turn had a negative affect on me, my
health was not good and i able to gain significent amount of weight. Based on
my personcal experience, i was able to conclude that, as we intake any product
that has hormones, the hormones then get into our body and change things
around causing health issues.
So know that we are well aware of this issue what can we do to stop the
production of products with hormones? Is there a chance that the U.S. might
banned the sale of hormone latent beef as the Europeans?
Kebrewosen Densamo
I strongly agree that hormones used in livestock for production need to be dealt with immediately. It not only harms the animal. Although, by reading this article i learned that hormones also affected us too. I didnt realize it could harm our system, i always believed it was cooked out of the meat before served to us. I am an avid meat eater and from now one Ill be more picky in what im eating and where it was from.
I know from being a dairy producer that BsT, which is a hormone given to dairy cows. It has gotten a lot controversy due to its side effects in the cows. I strongly believe their are alternative methods that can be used and should be used in production of dairy and beef.
I am glad that you brought up this issue.
One of my health trainers didn’t drink milk at all, saying “it’s BAD for you.” At that time, I didn’t understand why. Now I know it’s because of all the growth hormones that exist in dairy products.
Now, a lot of people find dairy products and poultry that are organic and natural. It is certain that well-being has become an important issue as a lot of studies reveal the harmful effects on human being that comes from addition of hormones and pollutants to the livestock we encounter at the grocery stores.
I agree with you that people should take these results of the studies seriously and volunteer for the well-being of both human and animals.
Thanks for the article! I enjoyed it!
Posted by clearsky83
I think this is a very interesting topic to discuss. It is definitely an interesting relationship that the amount of beef consumed by the mother affected the sperm count of the son. It definitely makes sense that what the mother eats while pregnant can have an affect on the child. For example, we have known that women who smoke and drink alcohol while pregnant are more likely to have children with birth defects. Did this study monitor the amoung of milk that these pregnant mothers were drinking each week as well?
I think this is a very interesting topic to discuss. It is definitely an interesting relationship that the amount of beef consumed by the mother affected the sperm count of the son. It makes sense that what the mother eats while pregnant can have an affect on the child. For example, we have known that women who smoke and drink alcohol while pregnant are more likely to have children with birth defects. Did this study monitor the amoung of milk that these pregnant mothers were drinking each week as well?
Interesting blog. You kept it very concise. I find it quite disturbing and I really hope there will be some action taking place. The FDA must consider this issue.
The funny thing though will be to tell this information to an elder person, especially the one who worked at a farm his entire life.
Mike
Reading this article pointed out alot of interesting things to me, but it also raised a few questions. First thing that comes to mind was if mothers eating alot of beef while pregnant lowers their sons sperm count, does it also lower the sperm count of men who eat alot of beef? The next thing that came to mind was how exactly was this tested? How can mothers know how much meat they were eating while pregnant. I figure if you take the sperm count from a college student, there mother wouldnt know exactly how much meat they were eating way back during the pregnancy. Maybe you could find that stuff out and add it to the paper.
adeoso6
Good article. It is surprising to see the number of chemicals that are used in growing crops and the hormones that they use with raising livestock. These chemicals could potentially have many harmful effects on the people who eat them, especially in the long term. Most people who buy these products are probably unaware of this as well. I think that there should be more done to restrict the kinds of chemicals that are given to the livestock and crops. If the European Union has banned this for so long, do you know why the US hasn't?
yz
This blog realy got me thinking about how little I, know about what is truly in my food. The worst part is that even if I had been aware of the hormones in our food, there's no certainty about their true side effects. I hope this article has encouraged further study in this area.
The information about the growth hormones used to beef up america's cattle is eye opening. I had no idea that the european union had banned hormones that are still in use in america in 1988. That is a long time for us to go without realizing the potential dangers of these hormones. America should follow in the footsteps of the european union and make stricter laws about the use of hormones, especially if studies are showing decreased sperm count in the sons of mother who eat lots of beef. I think a lot of people are unaware about what they are eating and should research where their food comes from.
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