Are growth hormones in our food making us a FAT nation?

I am SO glad that I am vegan.
I am thin and very healthy.

...there have been studies done that say the early onset of puberty in teenage girls can be traced back to the hormones in milk...amongst other things...

dont think so there is loads about fat and flab but what about the composition of food? it is not so much the food but what is in it the percentages, fat and type, proteins and amount carbs and sugars and what or how much is needed in the diet anyway.

There is no one answer as to why we Americans are so fat. Could the heavy use of growth hormones be causing a problem? Probably. In America we have made a trade off. We have traded quality for quantity. When agriculture was dominated by small family farms, meat animals were allowed to eat grass and wander around pastures at their leisure. Today nearly all of the meat, fish and poultry found in your grocery store come from factory farms where animals are treated poorly and injected not only with growth hormones but large quantities of antibiotics. The trade? Price. We spend less for food than nearly all other developed countries. In Japan a beef steak can cost a month's salary! In Europe, small family farms are still common. Prices are higher, but so is the quality.

But that's not the only thing. We are eating the same amounts as our grandparents did, but we do half as much work. In their day, most people who didn't work on farms worked in factories. They needed high-fat, high-carbohydrate foods in large quantities to fuel their bodies. They worked hard just to survive. Today we ride in cars, we drive to a park to bicycle or walk, our food comes pre-wrapped and cleaned. When's the last time you canned food for the winter? Our food comes all year 'round from all over the world. And then we sit in cubicles, barely ever leaving our padded seats. We go from our comfortable homes, to our comfortable garages, into our comfortable cars to our comfortable offices, all without burning more than few dozen calories.

Fat is a simple formula: more calories in than are used in activity. The real question is not whether growth hormones make us fat, it's do we want to trade hormone-free food for higher prices and more active lives?

This has been on my mind a lot. Think about it, has our diets changed that much over the years? My grandmother when she was alive cooked from scratch. She even used lard when my dad and his brothers and sister were growing up. She was never more then 10 pounds overweight.

Maybe that is just it...she grew a lot of her own veggies. Meat did not have growth hormones. When I find a full time job again, I want to buy more organic products. They do taste better and they are better for us. I think as parents, we all need to find what is happening with our children. My kids do not get to go to fast food places but maybe once a month, if that. Both my boys are right on target with their weights, but they are above on their heights (my oldest is very tall for his age, he is 5' 5" at 12 and is 110 lbs, and my youngest is 4'1" at 6 and is 60lbs. Both are one of the tallest in their classes). Think about how tall some of the children in our country are getting at younger ages? Is it natural or is it the food? Thank you for posting this. I had these same thoughts this week about the food we are eating because we all need to eat to live, and sometimes you wonder if you are what you eat.

I totally agree with you here. I drink a lot of milk and has gain 50lb over the last year. I also buy the cheapest milk since my family drinks a gallon every other day and it adds up.

Anyway, despite walking 3 miles a day with other exercieses, eating 1600 calories a day and eating low fat, I *STILL* can not lose weight. It makes no sense - except crap in our food making us fat!

My next step is to cut out dairy, unless it's free from all these toxic hormones and stuff ...

"It might also explain why America can't seem to stop eating no matter how hard we try." *rolls eyes* Another excuse for being fat. Try self control. People try so hard to blame everyone and everything else for their problems.

Maybe I could buy that hormones in meat are making people fat, but if it was hormones seeping into our water system, then EVERYONE would be fat. Yet a good portion of Americans are of a healthy weight.

If you're that concerned about hormones, become a vegetarian.

FYI, I eat plenty of animal products and I'm skinny. I actually lost 40 pounds since HS. I stopped stuffing my face and started exercising. Personal responsibility.