While Canada does not endorse growth hormones for milk-producing cattle, America does use growth hormones for non-stop milking. Canadians may not be buying American sourced meat in their local grocery stores but American animal byproducts, including whey powders, protein drinks and cheese, are available in many Canadian stores. The ingredient list of these American sourced products does not indicate use of genetic modification nor growth hormones. Those would be the same hormones that cause tumors in the cow’s udder where the milk is produced.
Some comment that buying organic meat is too expensive for a family, but there are healthier meat options if you feel organic meat is too pricey. Eating meat less frequently permits many to buy organic meats, using legumes as a protein source on days that meat is not part of a meal plan. Purchasing from Halal and Kosher stores allows for meat sourced from animals that are slaughtered individually, animals that must be raised in conditions that respect the animal needs for space and clean fodder that is not genetically engineered. The animals are blessed for the sacrifice of their life for another.
Farming and slaughter methods on large-scale farms have been questioned for both ethics and the end-result nutritional levels. Ignoring the question of ethics and treatment of other life-forms because we like to eat it does not make the lack of respect for life less offensive nor eliminate our responsibility as a consumer to demand a better way. We can make that demand with our personal choices and by voicing our preferences.
With over-crowded livestock conditions in large-scale farms causing increased disease and the need of regular antibiotics for these animals…we cannot be surprised that this meat source has been credited, for some decades….. with accumulating as a xenoestrogen, or false estrogen, in the human body – causing adverse effects until cleared from our system. David Suzuki wrote about this escalating effect in the 1980’s. Adverse effects of xenoestrogens are linked to reproductive problems, increased incidence of cysts and tumors, as well as hormone imbalances…all quite common in North America in comparison to the rest of the world.
Healthier meat options including finding small-scale farms where treatment of animals is more personalized and quite different compared to giant-scale farms. Visiting Farmers’ Markets may give access to smaller scale business sources.
Before considering metal toxicity, let me comment that in my early 50’s, I queried why someone of my vintage would select the extra cost of buying organic. Yes….big mistake! Let me admit that time has revealed there is no future to be embraced at any age with the physical dysfunction that may result from ingesting food now known to be GMO sourced nor thinking anyone escapes metal toxicity in our current world. Once your system is overloaded and your immune system weakened, the toxicity most people live with becomes an added complication to whatever ill occurs. There is no future of healthy function with a condition labelled “immune-deficient” – until you reverse it. A foundation of clean, pure and nutritious food is then an imperative. Why wait until then to make these changes?
Metal toxicity it is a separate subject to become aware of, with a few sources being amalgams in teeth, hair dye, food in cans, use of aluminum foil for baking, soil accumulation of lead from years of leaded gas, and increasing pollution. There will always be some who deny the implications, but metal toxicity has definitely been linked to neurotoxicity, including by some sectors of the conventional medical community.
Awareness of these issues allows opportunity to limit intake of these foods and to cleanse periodically in an effort to lessen your body’s exposure. As always, it’s about moderation and finding the best solution for you and your family.
This dedicated Canadian advocate against GMO expansion into our food, complete with farmer’s testimonial videos, provides a most informative read. If you’re not wondering about GMO food, you are either already cognizant of it, or in need of becoming so – if you and yours are to remain healthy. Petitions against GMO acceptance are ready for your signature at their site. For more, visit these two locations:
www.cban.ca
http://www.cban.ca/Resources/Topics/Regulation-and-Policy
Wishing you the best of health and life,
