Celeb Science Strikes Again

Calgary Herald Editorial
March 28, 2006

Heather Mills-McCartney wants people to stop drinking milk because the hormone content of milk may be responsible for increased cancer rates.

This is udder nonsense. While the trace hormones in milk "may" -- note the word -- be a problem, swearing off milk would likely create other more immediate problems for toddlers, as well as for teen girls who are building bone density and need to guard against future osteoporosis.

The Canadian Paediatric Society says infants and toddlers need the fat, energy, protein, calcium and other vitamins they get from whole milk, which should be introduced into their diets between nine months and a year of age. ...

Nor does the protein hormone rbGH, which increases milk production in dairy cows, pose a threat, according to Cornell University researchers. RbGH is not fed to cattle; it is implanted as a slow-release pellet in the animals' ears, thus resulting in a much lower residue of hormone in their milk. Not only do human cells not recognize rbGH as a growth hormone, scientists say its presence in milk is insignificant in contrast to the quantities of growth hormones humans produce on their own.

The Cornell scientists also say a protein called IGF-1 -- somewhat higher in cattle given rbGH -- aids the growth of normal cells and while it is present in higher concentrations in women with breast cancer, it may be a natural increase due to the disease. IGF-1 is also found in human breast milk, at higher levels than in cow's milk.

To be consistent, Mills-McCartney should also demand that women stop breastfeeding their babies.

Time for celebrities to quit having a cow over milk.

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