CLEAR HORMONAL EFFECT FROM MILK

In arguments over bovine growth hormone, one of the canards from Monsanto and the dairy industry has been that this altering of cow hormones has no effect on human cell growth - that hormonal oddities within milk cannot be passed on to the human body through milk consumption.

A new study in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine certainly calls this into question, to say the least. It found that milk drinkers are five times more likely to have twins than women who eat no animal products. The BBC article explains that "It is believed that a protein found in the livers of animals may be the cause. Called Insulin-like Growth Factor or IGF, it is found in cow's milk and other animal products. In women it makes the ovaries more sensitive and increases the number of eggs produced. Higher levels of IGF improve the survival chances of an embryo in the early stages of development. The effect is likely to be greater in countries such as the United States that allow growth hormones to be fed to cattle."

While this study has interesting implications for the BGH debate, it also serves as an immediate red flag to any woman considering pregnancy: "The researcher behind this study says that women thinking of getting pregnant might consider alternatives to meat and dairy products to reduce their chances of having twins, as multiple births are more prone to complications." Just one more way dairy products can be dangerous, once again verified by science.