Recently, a lot of discussions are going on about the additives that are added to food, and more specifically, hormones.
Now, there are conflicting reports about the effects, some say it has no harmful effects; others provide strong evidence suggesting otherwise.
So, today we will dive in to see whether you should be worried about the hormones in your food!
Why did people start to use in food?
So, today we will dive in to see whether you should be worried about the hormones in your food!
Why did people start to use in food?
Before, we begin discussing the harmful effect of it. Let’s define what hormones is it and why it is being used. Businesses have also been about profit and loss.
History has taught us that you have to do shady things to have big profits in your business. With time, our countries have evolved, and the list of shady things you can get away with has reduced due to strict laws.
A while ago, the food industry was struggling due to its over-dependence on nature for water, weather, and natural disaster. This was cutting down their ability to earn more.
So, they came up with the idea of growth hormones. A few decades ago, scientists found our chemicals, which can increase growth in height, weight in humans at an early age.
As it was legal to use these chemicals as additives in food. They thought of developing similar growth hormones for plants and animals.
So, with the use of such hormones, companies and farmers were able to grow large plants, fruits, and cattle.
They weren’t dependent on nature anymore, and their profit increases by ten times due to these hormones. However, many studies have found evidence of a harmful effect on the human body.
The food lobby is fighting hard to resist the result.
What type of hormones are injected into food?
Hormones are used in animals and plants to increase their growth and weight to get more milk, meat, and bigger fruits and plants.
They can either go for Steroid hormones such as testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone to get the required growth and development. Or they can use Synthetic hormone such as recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone, rbGH, Insulin-like Growth Factor -1 (IGF-1), etc.
These hormones are either injected directly into the cattle and plants via injection. Or they are mixed with food or fertilizers to be consumed naturally.
How do drugs affect the human body?
Now, we need to understand that these hormones have passed the government test and are considered to be safe.
However, these tests were carried out on food items with a little amount of hormone. A little amount of hormone is safe for your body.
But with the increased popularity of hormone grown food, the amount of these chemically generated hormones has increased in the body.
This is where the issue lies, some studies suggest the amount is increasing drastically and will impact our body in a severe way. Others suggest it isn’t a big deal, and your body can handle it.
What should you do?
We are not scientists or doctors, so we can’t decide which study to believe and which not.
So, let’s look at an example to understand the situation.
Headaches are prominent in today’s life. You have one every other week. It isn’t worrying as you can take a tablet and get over it.
Studies have shown that due to your habit of taking a chemical processed medicine to heal your headache. Your body is used to it, and any other way is most likely not going to work.
Plus, the frequency of headache increases due to the tablet. Now, most of us know about these side effects, but we are ok with it.
Similarly, Food grown using hormones will have side-effects because they are not natural and contain chemicals. The side-effects could vary depending on a lot of factors.
If you are fine with the risk similar to headache tablets as long as you get more food than before. Then, you should continue buying from the same store.
However, if you are health conscious, then try to avoid hormones in food because they will definitely have an effect on your body at some moment.