does organic milk contain growth hormones

I stopped using dairy milk after my lumpectomy because of the growth hormones and the fact that cows are milked when they are pregnant. The only alternative I can get along with is soya milk, but feel concerned regarding the phyto-oestrogen content.
My query is how healthy is organic milk? Does it contain growth hormones and are the cows milked when pregnant. Just how organic is organic?

Hi!

My understanding is that organic milk does NOT contain growth hormones - and that’s why it’s the only milk I buy. Don’t know about the cows being milked when pregnant - I’m sure someone else will know!

Well I know organic milk is produced from cows that haven’t been given growth hormones but that doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have hormones in their milk naturally I guess.

Yes cows may have natural hormones in their bodies and therefore in their milk, but I think that is a totally different thing from the artificial growth stimulants that non organic cows are given. Plus all the antibiotics they are given just in case they need them! I’m no expert, but I was told the 2 things you should ALWAYS buy organic are milk and apples.

Surely all cows’ milk whether organic or not, contains growth hormones because it is intended to feed growing calves.
Organic milk is better as it does not contain the extra growth hormones and antibiotics that are regularly added to cow feed - they also get to go outside and eat real grass which hasn’t been coated in pesticides, unlike some poor cows who are kept in barns and fed on dried feed as this is more economical.

I went dairy free 4 years ago after diagnosis and switched to soya milk for quite a while, but I now have oat milk which I find easier to digest. Tesco do it for 1.30ish a litre. There’s also rice milk and I love organic almond milk, but that is a bit pricey at over £2 litre - but it sounds as though you’ve tried all these Valanne? The jury still seems to be out on the phyto-oestrogen question, but there have been concerns about the way soya milk is manufactured which is a good reason to switch. Also, I personally worry a bit about GM and soya - soya was the first crop to be interfered with so I always tried to make sure I had certified organic soya, but can you be sure??!

All a bit of a minefield really - good luck!

Thora

Hi, still the battle over hormones carries on, It is so worrying knowing what you can and can’t have, i do not use cows milk or soya over the whole oestrogen thing but use Oatley instead, at present on at £1 a litre at Sainsburys so you could try that.

Suzzanne

I was a vegan for years and therefore diary free but still got breast cancer!!! I have some soya, organic milk and a low fat diet now and eat fish and organic/free range meat about 3 times a week. Putting a huge amount of weight on due to veganism didnt help my prognosis I am sure! I read the pro and against soya and diary arguments and quite frankly cant see where the conclusive evidence is! So, I eat a basic low-fat mixed diet, huge amount of fruit and veg with some diary too. Worrying about what you can or cant have seems more harmful to me than actually eating the stuff!

I am not a great lover of milk and only have it on cereal or hot chocolate.I started buying soya milk but they make it in such large cartons that I was wasting half of it.
So if anyone’s reading this from Alpro-please make smaller cartons!

Dear Valanne,
My medically trained Naturopath has always said to me NO Dairy. For him that includes Organic milk as it is still coming from the breast of a cow with all the natural hormones. He recommends almond milk or oat milk -yum!
Hope that is helpful,
Penny

Oops forgot, also because of the phyto - oestrogens he says no soy milk.
Penny

Hi Superpen!

Presumably that only applies to tumours which are hormone sensitive, so that those who are er&pr negative don’t need to worry about that. Plenty more to worry about anyway!

Hi valanne, i have read that dairy is the worst thing you can do if you have breast cancer (and that eliminating it can actually cure cancer). It seems to make sense to me, because milk is really for baby animals, and no other species of adult animals drinks milk except humans. So it makes sense that drinking milk when an adult (particularly the milk of another species) could confuse the body and maybe even lead to cancer. I’m not sure if you’ve read the following books about dairy and breast cancer - but they might influence your decision: “Your Life in Your Hands” Professor Jane Plant; & The China Study by Dr Campbell - probably available on the internet/amazon. It’s worth noting that the chinese eat a lot of soy and no dairy and have very low rates of breast cancer. Also the countries that eat themost dairy seem to have the highest rates of breast cancer. In china, breast cancer is called rich woman’s disease, because women who get it are rich and eat a western diet (including dairy).

I actually read that soy acts like tamoxifen in that it reduces the effect of the real oestrogen in the body because the plant oestrogen gets on the receptors instead (or something like that). I think soy in moderation is okay; but if you’re not convinced maybe you could avoid both soy and dairy - i think that would be safer than switching back to dairy.

Where did you read this? As far as i am aware there is no proven scientific link with dairy and BC. Jane Plant’s book is very controversial and she makes claims that at best cannot be proved and at worst are very misleading and may be untrue. She is a doctor, but not of medicine. She claims going dairyfree cured her cancer but many believe it was the chemo she had which did it! Many people who have had bc do not even drink milk.I have organic milk to avoid the added hormones and despite having a diet rich in calcium still have to take supplements to strengthen my bones. I would be very worried about any woman who stop eating dairy because of the effect on their bones.
I was advised by a nutritionist on a BCC course that butter and olive oil are the only fats that should be eaten. She also advised against soya in any form other than meso or tofu, I think, because processing the soya altered it and made it harmful.
I would distrust any claim which is so dogmatic without scientific evidence. Such claims cause a lot of unnecessary worry and guilt in people. I do not believe any food, in moderation, could possibly cause cancer.

Can anyone describe what oatmilk tastes like… just occurred to me that it could be really good for those of us trying to get our energy back anfter chemo or rads.

Re Jane Plant and the the whole milk issue… I haven’t read it and don’t intend to as I prefer my sources to be MD’s or at least working in medicine… her doctorate is in Geology. That’s not meaning to start an argument or anything. I was just just surprised as I felt the whole Dr thing had been emphasised inappropriately.

I’m waiting for more conclusive information from a wider range of sources and in the meantime I’m not cutting down on on of my largest sources of calcium as I will going into an early menopause from having my ovaries removed next year and frankly I need to keep my bone density.

Kelley is right…there is no proven link between dairy and breast cancer. There are many flaws in Jnae Plant’s book and I think its really sad how much guilt the ‘persuasive’ arguments in her book can induce.

Jane

Vertangie

I use oat milk (oatly) It’s creamier and less sweet tham rice milk. I find it ok on cereals and in coffee but not so nice in tea…but then I drink more green tea so I don’t really miss it. also use it in cooking and so far everything tastes fine. You can either buy organic or calcium enriched. I tend to alternate so I don’t miss out on calcium. I haven’t completely given up dairy cos I do love the occasional clotted cream but since reducing dairy I find my perennial sinus problems seem to have cleared up so there are extra benefits for me.

On a different note I have noticed from previous posts you live in Cumbria. I live on the west coast of Cumbria but I’ve been staying with my son whilst I had treatment at Christies in Manchester. My last rad is Monday and I’ll be going home for the first time since March. I was wondering if you knew of any support networks in Cumbria. I’m starting to realise how vulnerable I feel now that treatment is coming to an end and I need to rejoin the human race as it were. Hope you don’t mind me asking.
Trish

to be honest I dont believe a word about any of this anti-soya or anti-diary argument. Equally, you dont need gallons of the stuff to protect your bones! There’s calcium in so many foods! I was told by my oncologist that it’d be unwise to go on zoladex because it wouldnt really improve my already good prognosis and also because there would be considerable loss of bone density…after 2 years on zoladex I had a bone density scan and guess what? Bone density above average for my age and no noticeable bone loss! I really dont take a lot of notice of what doctors say…we are all individuals and not statistics! The only good advice my oncologist once gave me was to “carry on as normal and enjoy my life”. Nobody knows what the future holds, whether you’ve had cancer or not. So why add more stress for the sake of theories which arent at all conclusive? A complete waste of energy I say!

Alliecat - Provomel make cartons of soya milk 250ml which are the little snacky drink size - my local health shops will order in a tray (15) at a time.

Hi Cinderella
Yes, I have also read an article recently which says that soya acts like tamoxifen and stops the cancer cells latching onto the body’s natural oestrogen. I’ve read all the pros and cons over soya and decided I’ll go with the pros. As for dairy - I do occasionally use organic milk to make white sauces as I don’t like sauces made with soya, and, I very occasionally (like today) have M&S meringues filled with cream!!! I would imagine that some of us - especially the older ones like me - have the occasional ‘naughty’, life gets a bit drab otherwise.

Gosh, lots of interesting stuff here. I also read Jane Plant’s book and was persuaded to go dairy free. I have a science background, not medical, and found quite a lot of her arguments to have some basis. I personally don’t believe eating dairy will give you cancer. A dodgy immune system, genetic predisposition or exposure to mutagens (chemicals or radiation that disrupts healthy cell generation) will give you cancer! But, if you have a propensity to generate more cancer cells than your immune system can deal with then adding a food that contains Insulin Growth factor which encourages cells to grow can’t be a good thing. Same with eating sugary food, if cancer cells have more receptors for sugar than normal cells surely eating food that floods the system with glucose is not good - you end up feeding the cancer first and you second. So a low GI diet (similar to a diabetics) seems reasonable. Overriding all of this though is stress - if following this type of diet will cause more stress than before then it will not work. Stress suppresses the immune system and this is your first line of defence, so Valanne sounds like she has a great balance - the occasional ‘naughty’ probably does more good than harm!