What’s in Your Meat?: Livestock Hormones and Your Health

In the United States, approximately 90% of beef cattle are produced using hormone supplements (1). Hormones are added to cattle feed or provided in the form of an implant inserted subcutaneously behind the ear that will slowly dissolve and release the hormones over time (2). Of note, the implanted ear is removed at slaughter to “eliminate” the risk of human consumption. The economic benefit to cattle producers is $20–75 per head and the enhancing effects include 10–30% increase in growth, 5–15% increase in feed efficiency, and 5–8% increase in carcass leanness (3). When you eat livestock or a livestock product such as milk or cheese, you are exposed to these same hormones.

Hormones are powerful chemical messengers. Steroid “sex” hormones, derived from cholesterol, can easily enter your cells and make copies of genetic information. This “recipe” of your genetic information is used to make more of you! In most cases, this is a good thing, but consumer beware. Healthy “physiological” levels hormones control metabolism, inflammation, immune function, development of sexual characteristics, and neurological function. Insufficient or excessive levels of steroid hormones are associated with numerous health concerns such as heart disease, infertility, psychiatric disorders, obesity, diabetes, liver damage, and cancer. This bring us to the topic at hand. We will explore the use of added hormones in conventional livestock production, the impact on humans consuming foods produced with added hormones, and strategies to minimize…