In the US, huge amounts of female hormones and antibiotics are fed to animals and poultry.
Most other countries won’t import our meats, dairy or eggs because they consider them toxic.
Feeding poultry estrogen insures that chickens produce 3-4 eggs per day instead of one egg every 3-4 days. Cows fed hormones produce more milk. Thanks to these hormones, you can see cows in the fields with swollen udders almost dragging the ground. Female hormones also cause estrogen dominance making animals and poultry quickly gain weight around their breasts, stomachs and thighs. Steers destined for the meat markets, fed huge amounts of female hormones, look like barrels with legs instead of the normal cattle we used to see grazing.
Eating foods with female hormones in them creates estrogen dominance in people too, increasing your breasts, stomach and thighs, contributing the rise of obesity in adults and children. Doctors have stopped giving woman female hormones after menopause because it was proven to cause cancer. But they are still putting it in our food!
Men and boys are developing breasts, or man boobs as they are jokingly referred to. Breast cancer has become an issue for men as well as women. Little girls are having periods from 7-10 years of age, creating physical and emotional problems.
Fast food chains have learned they can bypass what little FDA regulation there is by growing their own animals. The animal products sold at these chains typically contain so many antibiotics and hormones it would be illegal to sell them in the grocery store. When Obama first entered office his administration attempted to regulate the chemicals in animal protein but was thwarted by the huge meat and dairy industries.
Doctors warn cancer patients about the hazards of natural estrogen in soy products but ignore the vast amounts of artificial estrogen people ingest when eating non-organic or non-free range protein.
When eating soy and bean products it is necessary to make sure you are getting organic. Soy and other beans that are of GMO origin, like other GMO vegetables, are genetically altered to be ‘Roundup Ready.’ This means at harvest time the entire field is sprayed with Roundup, one of the most lethal and carcinogenic herbicides on the market. The vines and leaves of the plants wither and die so the produce can be easily scooped up. It is washed off with cold water, which does nothing to remove the oil-based poison. Unfortunately, vegetable, soy and bean products in most restaurants are not organic.
Soaking beans overnight and rinsing them well before cooking makes them more easily digestible, as does cooking them with seaweed. The only canned beans that I know of that follow this process are Eden brand.
Back to animals and poultry. Unlike the barn yards of the past, animal processing plants are now run like factories. Animals are raised, fattened and slaughtered in such overcrowded and filthy conditions that antibiotics are necessary just to keep them alive long enough to be processed. A wide range of antibiotics, some sources say up to 52 in the feed, are used to cover a diverse range of potential ailments. Antibiotics are no longer effective and our antibiotic laced food is mostly to blame. When ingesting just about every type of antibiotic on the market daily, when we really do need them they are less likely to work.
Antibiotics that are prescribed, or ingested through food, destroy the positive and negative bacteria in the small intestines. This sets us up for the overgrowth of Candida which induces digestive problems, weight gain, and sweet cravings, thus initiating a domino effect of health problems. I typically have to treat patients for Candida when treating rashes, chronic aches and pains, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue, depression, depleted immune systems, foggy thinking, short term memory loss, lethargy, allergies, repeated colds, flu, sinus infections, bronchitis, as well as many other health issues. It is impossible to effectively treat Candida, and attain lasting results, when people are eating antibiotic laced food on a regular basis. Candida constantly assaults the gut flora providing no chance of sufficient regeneration. It takes six months to a year to regrow the gut flora, often longer with chronic cases of Candida. In that time more antibiotics are usually ingested either from prescribed medications or in our food.
The difference between organic and free range is what they are feeding the animals or poultry and in what conditions they are raised. Conditions must be cleaner and healthier to raise animals and protein without antibiotics.
Certified organic means no herbicides, pesticides, GMO, antibiotics or hormones in your food.
What toxins animals or poultry get in their feed are stored in their fat. We mostly eat muscle meat as opposed to organ meat in this country. Organs are designed to pass toxins through them so they can continue to function even in a toxic environment. The muscle meat is laced with fat where toxins are stored. When we eat non-free range or non-organic animal protein we are ingesting significant amounts of concentrated poison.
Free Range means no antibiotic and hormones but may still contain herbicides, pesticides and GMO from what the animals or poultry have eaten.
In crowded filthy feedlots animals are sprayed with pesticides to eradicate bugs that naturally proliferate there. The poison sinks into the animal’s food, into their water and into their skin. All of which is stored in their fat cells. We’re getting more concentrated poisons in animal products that are not free range or organic than if we were eating non-organic vegetables that weren’t washed off with soap to remove the pesticides and herbicides.
Non-organic dairy products, milk, cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese, ice cream, and whey also contain concentrated amounts of antibiotics, hormones, herbicides and pesticides. Non-organic or non-free range eggs are also concentrated packages of toxins.
Farmed (as opposed to wild) fish are fed chemicals to make them grow faster. So when shopping or eating out look for wild fish.
Nuts and Seeds, while sources of protein, should not be over consumed since they are very oily foods. Overconsumption can cause health problems, which I will address in another article. Seed and nut butters should not be eaten on a daily basis. And unless nuts and seeds are soaked, sprouted or fermented they have enzyme inhibitors that make them more difficult to digest, cause weight gain and inhibit the absorption of other foods eaten with them.
Those of us who live in certain pockets of the country are blessed with an abundance of organic and free range foods. Aside from what is available from stores we have farmers markets and restaurants dedicated to providing healthy fare. When eating out look for the restaurants that provide organic or free range food. Otherwise ordering wild seafood or vegan dishes, with no meat, poultry, eggs or dairy is a way to avoid toxins. Is it going to kill you to eat non-organic or non-free range on occasion? No, a little bit of poison won’t kill you. But a little bit here and there throughout the day, every day, adds up and creates a range of ailments.
I see patients for a wide assortment of health problems every day. The ones who make the greatest strides and the most dramatic recoveries aren’t only the ones who come in for treatments and take the herbs or nutritional products I prescribe, they’re the ones who make sure that, for the most part, aside from occasional treats or lapses, they’re eating the cleanest most nutritious food possible. My patients who stay the healthiest, with the least reoccurrence of problems, are the ones who take the saying to heart, “You are What You Eat.”
Health & Happiness,
Nancy Burton, L.Ac.
