I just read this blog entry: http://www.healthybeautysecrets.com/2009/01/milk-does-it-... and it really has me thinking. I am about to switch my 11 month old from breast milk to whole milk, and after reading this article I am thinking I am going to give him organic milk. I had no idea that milk had all these health risks.
I wanted to get some feedback from some other Mom's that may have given their kids organic milk and about how much more it is than regular milk?
First I wanted to Thank everyone for their feedback, although some were not congruent with where my thoughts process was heading, those are the ones that made me step back and think, and this is exactly what I wanted: Personal views of other Moms. I have decided to give my son Organic Milk, or Milk that has not been treated with rBST, depending on what I find around where I live. I do have a Trader Joes near me, and a Safeway that has more of an organic section.
Nicole: Thank you for your response. I agree that between the milk and the meat our girls are menstruating and developing way too fast. I guess that would make sense though right, I would imagine the hormones make the cows fuller along with producing more milk. (This is nothing I have researched, I would just imagine so.)I love the feedback on getting the non-organic milk that does not have the growth hormone in it. I think have a Whole Foods near me, so I will have to look into where it is.
Stephanie: Thank you; I do have a Trader Joes by me as well, so I will look into that. I have wanted to shop there lately anyway. I am going to do a 10 day detox, and after that want to start eating a lot healthier.
Jen C: Thanks so much on your feedback on the rice milk. I hope that your baby's GI issues improve. Mine had acid reflux, I was only going to breast feed for 3 months, but the doc said because he did not respond well to formula to keep him on breast milk, so that is what I did.
Christy: Thank you for your feedback. That is very true; something is always coming up as bad for us. They say it was good at one time, then 20 years later it is bad, and the other way around as well. However, the way I look at it is with whole milk with the growth hormone I know that there has been research done and that it could possibly be linked to some not so good things, not to mention the way girls are growing these days is not natural, and then I look at organic or milk with out the growth hormone and this takes out those things that may be linked to bad stuff, and I just don't want to take the chance. However, I do understand what you are saying, it is like you are darned if you do and darned if you don't.
Rachel: Thank you for the response. I do eat cooked spinach, but not raw. My husband has OCD, and his brother is a chef, and he read his book on all kinds of different bacteria’s, something someone with OCD should never do. So he seems to not want to bring anything in the house that has a possible chance of making any of us sick, drives me crazy at time. :-) This is very much a personal opinion and I thank you for your feedback as it made me set back and think and that is what I wanted. However, not really knowing and not being on the level of any scientist and seeing that some of the research does point to these growth hormones being bad makes me not want to take the chance. I think in our country the financial aspect of something is always in the back of peoples minds and I wonder if that is part of the reason why this has not gotten the attention that it deserves because it would be very hard to have that much land to accommodate that many cows if everyone drank organic milk. However, I do think that there are plenty of bad things on our grocery store shelf’s that do not get the attention they need, and I personally want to do everything that I can to make sure that my kids are healthy. At the end of the day, god forbid something were to happen, I want to know that I did everything in my power to make the right choices with the information I was given, I guess that is all we can do. On the blog front I do not believe everything I see, I did go onto no milk and did a Google Search as well. However, the woman that writes that blog is a health coach and I have had other conversations with her, so it is not a random blog. I totally agree with you on the organic meat front, and I am going to look into that as well. My husband is thinking it will be too expensive, but we are not big meat eaters anyway, so I do not think it will be too much more a month.
Lisie: I am totally with you; I am not going to switch over to organic everything, although I am a tad excessive so I have to make sure I do not do that. Same as you, I am just trying to the best I can, and I worry as well about what is being put into our foods now vs. years ago.
Amelia: Thank you for your feedback. I am not a big meat eater, but I do enjoy it too much to go vegetarian :-) Thank you for your post, it made me smile.
Kristen: I know it is a great deal more expensive. I am sure there will be times when I cannot purchase the organic milk either, however I did just learn about the milk that is not organic but it does not have the growth hormone in it, which is another option.
Again Thank you all for your feedback, it really did help. This is an awesome site.
We all grew up on whole milk and did just fine. There is a risk for everything these days, from using the microwave, cell phone or walking accross the street. organic is very pricey for what seems like something that doesn't have a lot of trusted research too it.
I switched my entire family over to organic after I found out that most of the "extras" found in our milk are banned in Canada and Europe. There is definitely something wrong with the FDA to allow such things in our food. It is a little more expensive, but Target carries it at a reasonable price and Giant does too.
Many of us did grow up on whole milk, but back then cows were not being treated with growth hormones, antibiotics, etc. that they receive today. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they sell organic whole milk as well as "regular" whole milk. The label on the "regular" milk says that the cows are not treated with rBST. It costs $3.69 a gallon which is not much more than the milk they sell at the supermarket and less than organic.
I've always given my daughter organic milk and yogurt. I don't buy organic cheese, but she doesn't get very much. I don't know if the hormones affect us, but given the rising numbers of 8 yo girls who are menstrating, I figured I'd hedge my bets and severly limit her intake of milk from cows receiving growth hormones.
Organic milk is approximately twice the cost of non-organic. Yikes, I know, but I think its worth it. Whole Foods brand non-organic milk does not cost quite so much though. Even though it is not organic, it does not come from cows given growth hormones so when I'm in that area I make a point to get their milk for her.
I'll probably be the odd one out on this. Everything you eat and drink has health risks. Trust me, the spinach you eat is WAAAY more potentially dangerous than your milk. Like a billion times.
rBST milk is controversial, and while I don't think there's been enough oversight on the entire affair, most of the hype is just that. Most of these pro-organic lobby groups use half-science to scare people into doing what they've decided is right for everyone.
Science (real independent groups of scientists) has shown that while hormones are used to increase the milk production, very little, if any, of the hormones are found in the milk itself. Just think about how there are certain drugs you can take that go into your breastmilk and others that don't.
Also, keep in mind that a) everyone in this country has been drinking that for about 10-15 years. Any serious health issues would probably have shown themselves by now. and, perhaps more importantly to me, b) organic milk IS NOT environmentally sustainable. It's not socially responsible, and I for one am not going to raise my family with the idea that they are more important than the rest of the world. It would take almost exactly 3 times as many cows (and feed, grazing land, methane release, etc.) to produce the milk we consume organically as compared to how we do it today.
If you're concerned about the hormones and antibiotics being used in animals ending up in your family, I recommend organic meat. That actually shows a substantial difference in hormones being consumed. Milk, not so much.
Oh, and it costs roughly double. If you really can't stomach regular milk, ask your ped if soy or rice milk are ok.
Also, please don't believe things found in a blog, even if he says things that seem to be backed by science.
We did Soy. Bottom line for me was- It's from a COW. that concept always freaked me a bit for myself- let along my child. But I guess that is why i went vegitarian...............
Organic milk is more expensive (5.50 at Giant for Nature's Promise, as opposed to about 3.50 for regular), but we started buying it since our boys drink so much of it. If we are low on money for the week, we buy regular, but we try to stick to it for them. Personally, I would much rather them drink/eat as much organic as possible (especially dairy); that being said, we can't afford to buy all organic, so we stick to some basic things. I think the milk tastes better than regular, but maybe I just want it to since I'm paying more for it :) It's really a personal choice - obviously we grew up on regular milk and are fine, I just worry with so much going in to food today that we don't know about. And I'm not one of those crazy children should only have organic moms - I'm just trying to do the best that I can, as we all are :)
I was just reading a few of these responses, and though I do believe organic milk to be worth the extra cost for both taste and lack of hormones, I know that that is a personal choice. However, I want to comment on the another mom's suggestion to use rice milk. Currently, I am on a dairy-free diet for the benefit of my breastfeeding infant. I was enjoying soy milk, which is actually quite tasty, but my daughter's GI doctor recently asked that I remove all soy from my diet as well to see if my daughter's GI issues improve. She suggested rice milk as as alternative, and it is definitely not to my taste. I liken it to drinking liquified play-doh. It also has a very LOW fat content, so it would not make a good substitute for whole milk. Just something else for you to consider as you do your research on what will be best for you and your family.
Personally, I will not be spending the extra money for organic milk, just as I did not spend the extra money for organic formula or baby food. My son will be transitioned from formula to whole milk in May. To me, the thing I hate is that I will either have to go back to drinking/cooking with whole milk (currently 2%) or else I will be buying two kinds of milk each week!
