My understanding is that IGF1 is not present in UK milk, but is in that of the USA, probably where the research was done.
Ann
My understanding also is that a cow’s milk comes from a cow which has given birth, not a pregnant one, at which point it starts to lactate. This is stimulated by the placenta, which is then explelled. After this the hormone levels drop. This explanation of human lactation explains it better:-
babycentre.co.uk/baby/breastfeeding/makingbreastmilk/
It does not make sense that milk would contain oestrogen, because of the effect on male offspring. It is not logical.
I can find no evidence that milk does contain oestrogen, especially organic milk. If it did, don’t you think our oncologists would advise against it? However, I was told to avoid phyto-oestogens.
Ann x
Ann
I have a bit of deja vu here! IGF is naturally present in ALL milk, including organic. It is not an additive, but something produced naturally by cows, as it is by humans. It is present in much higher levels in cows treated with rBGH, which thankfully is banned in the UK, so we are not exposed to those very dangerously high levels.
IGF levels rise in cows milked when they are pregnant. Most dairy production in the UK is very intensive, and the cows will be milked daily their entire lives before slaughter at quite an early age (intensive milking is exhausting and the cows don’t survive long) - including during several pregnancies.
cancerhelp.org.uk/about-cancer/cancer-questions/can-the-hormones-in-milk-affect-breast-cancer
Ann this link gives some more information on cows lactating during pregnancy. Most dairy cows have a calf by AI every year to ensure continual lactation, and are milked for 6-8 months of their 9 month pregnancy. Their calves are taken away after 48 hours so they can be continually milked for human consumption. So as you can see, for large parts of the milking cycle they are producing high levels of growth hormones. All those growth hormones designed to make a baby cow grow very fast are in the milk we drink (or used to in my case!).
And finally, this is the link showing oestrogen is present in the milk of pregnant cows:
Hope this has been helpful.
finty x
Ann, sorry I forgot to add that your comment that it is illogical that oestrogen would be present in cows milk due to the effect on male offspring is entirely correct! The problem is that we are milking cows DURING PREGNANCY, which simply would not happen in nature - so this is an entirely man made problem. This is the case with organic milk too - I doubt there is any milk sold through the supermarkets that is not from cows milked year round, organic or not.
This link talks about hormones added to milk in the US.
Thanks Ann, I had already read that article - it confirms what I said above that IGF is present at some level in all milk, and at raised levels in milk of pregnant cows.
I don’t know about the risk of Breast cancer but reading the article from the vegetarian society is enough to make me think about reconsidering some things.
Mel xx
Iv’e taken a part of the article from Cancer help… " BST is not the same shape as HST and cannot fit into hormone receptors in the human body in the same way as HST. So there is unlikely to be a direct health risk that way" and if IGF is not given to our cows and naturally we have 100 times the amount in our body than is in a pint of milk would it not be safe?.
Mel xx
Mel I don’t know - I wish I did. I suppose it is similar to saying that if we have oestrogen in our own bodies then isn’t it safe - whereas many of us are going through some pretty nasty treatment to try and get rid of all naturally occurring oestrogen. And the issue with IGF is that it naturally occurs at low levels in milk, but we are exposed to unnaturally high levels because of the practise of milking during pregnancy for most of the year.
There is no doubt that higher levels of IGF in humans are ASSOCIATED with higher risk of cancer - whether they are the cause, we can’t be sure. I am merely providing these links to explain the reasoning behind the decision of many to follow a dairy free diet, just in case.
finty xx
It is the oestrogen I am concerned about. I have just sent an e-mail to defra to see if I can get a definitive answer. They were really helpful when I asked the same question over drinking water. I don’t know how long they will take though, because it says they aim to answer within 15 days!
Ann
What is HST?
Don’t worry, just found it in the article. Doh!!!
Ann it will be interesting to see what DEFRA say, but there is no doubt whatsoever that oestrogen in the form of oestrone sulphate is present in the milk of pregnant cows. Oestrogen in the milk or faeces is often used as a pregnancy test!
springerlink.com/content/ln867045gu526615/
finty x
(edited to get chemical name right)
Looking at the whole picture I can see the logic in giving up dairy or even becoming a veggie,not just because it may risk Breast Cancer.My sister in law has a dairy free diet she say’s cows milk is for baby cows not humans.I wonder if I have the willpower,I love cheese.
Mel xx
Mel it’s the cheese I miss most too - but I haven’t found it as difficult as I expected, and I haven’t succumbed yet! I do get very tempted when everyone else is eating it though. It is also the only dairy product that doesn’t seem to have an acceptable dairy free version - there are delicious ice creams, mayos etc, but the cheese alternative I tried was disgusting.
Hi Finty,
Unforutnately the links you gave me arnt working, im just seeing the firefox home page? anyway as this topic is primarily regarding the amount of oestrogens in Dairy and in particular Milk, i wondered why there has been no discussion by anyone on this thread of the many different oestrogens found in other sources/products that we are all exposed to in the world today and which also have been shown to be absorbed through the body?. As i said in an earlier post it is impossible to avoid all oestrogens,we are surrounded by them !so how can giveing up Dairy alone possibly halt breast cancer?
Hopefully this link will be of interest to the Dairy dabate also.
breastcancernetwork.org.nz/docs/Insidious%20Oestrogens.pdf
Linda
Mel - Unless you are vegetarian, I don’t get the argument about cow’s milk versus baby milk. If you eat other parts of the cow, what’s the difference?
finty - I haven’t received a reply from DEFRA yet but I did get one from the Dairy Council. Now, I am sure you will say, “but they would say that, wouldn’t they?” but the lady said that “the amount of oestrogen in commercial milk and dairy products is miniscule.”
She also said that “oestrogen is present in the diet from a whole variety of sources” and “the amount that’s present correlates to the amount of fat present in the food in question ie low-fat dairy foods having less oestrogen than those with a higher fat content.”
She also quoted, “At a meeting of the Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Foods and Consumer Products in 2006 (an advisory body to the Department of Health), Dr George Mann, Associate Professor at the Animal Physiology department at the School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham reported that the current oestrogen content in cows’ milk was in the range 1-2 pg/ml and that the levels had not changed in the past thirty years.”
Apparently, pg/ml is picograms per millilitre. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram per millilitre, by the way.
Now, I have no idea how much would cause us harm, but this does certainly sound low. Anyway, it appears that it is nigh on impossible to avoid oestrogen altogether, whether or not you consume dairy products.
Ann
Totally agree with you Ann,
i have just posted a link above which refers to this very point.
Linda x
Linda - I must have posted at the same time as you, as you can see I was making the same point about oestrogen in other things. Snap!
Ann