Do not be deceived! Estrogen in BEEF

[Little Cow]

For those still curious, all hormones act the same way. They can diffuse in and out of cells freely. Insulin works like that (thank goodness, if you're a diabetic). A tiny amount injected under the skin does the job. So, those implants diffuse into a steer's body and get broken down by his liver into various forms that can also diffuse about and cause effects. Eat the steak a bit of that goes into your body. Does it do anything? Eat a lot of steak over time and all the tiny amounts add up. But what effects do they have? When they are broken down by our livers, what can they do? Are they little crazy drivers in a city that don't end up hitting anything, or do they wreak havoc over time? That's the question. How did they get approved for use through the FDA? I was taught in college animal science that we lacked the receptors. Its not that simple. Obviously. The manufacturers have receptors they are targeting to influence growth rates, and it is true that we lack those specific receptors. It is not true to say that these hormones have zero effect on anything but hose receptors in either the stees body or ours. We know some of the outward negative effects (aggression). There is no way to prove no effect because we don't understand all the effects and pathways our own hormones have. Nor can we predict what shape the hormones will become after our livers have broken them down. We simply do not know. Lots of things are approved by the FDA because no specific short term harm can be proven. Look at the crazy food additives and food dyes we tolerate in our foods. Sometimes it's also a matter of influence or money changing hands. Keep your eyes wide open.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I have never heard that implants cause "bullers" so I researched it. The only thing I came up with is:
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-10027/ANSI-3290web.pdf
Animal Health
Implants are suspected to directly cause, or be associated with, several undesirable changes in animals. Responses
normally associated with reproductive processes are observed in heifers, including signs of estrus, vaginal or rectal prolapses, development of the udder and other problems. Implants may increase the incidence of bullers in steers. Bullers are steers that will stand to be mounted similar to the behavior of a cow in estrus. However, it is thought that bulling is caused
by a physiological defect in the animal and implants merely exacerbate this condition. Estimates of the frequency of the
occurrence of bullers range from 1 percent to 4 percent.
Food Safety
Table 2 reports the estrogenic activity of foods commonly consumed in the U.S. Beef from steers and heifers fed for
slaughter have a very low level of estrogenic activity, regardless of implant status. In fact, ice cream contains 553 times
more estrogen than beef. The safety of implants is assured when FDA approved products are used according to their
labels. History and several organizations including, but not limited to, the U.S. FDA, the World Health Organization and
the Food and Agriculture Organization have concluded that the use of implants in beef production poses no safety risk
to consumers.