Hello, this is Monica Reinagel. Welcome to the Nutrition Deva

podcast. A couple of months ago I addressed the question of whether eating meat affects your hormone levels.

And if you missed that episode, it's number 364 in the archives.

Since then several of you have written to ask the same question about milk.

Does dairy affect your hormone levels?

And that's what we're going to talk about today.

And now on to today's topic. How does dairy affect your hormone levels?

All milk, whether it comes from cows, goats, humans, or porpoises, naturally contains small amounts of various hormones, including estrogen and progesterone.

Because hormones like estrogen are fat-soluble, the level of hormones is higher in whole milk than it is in skim milk.

Organic milk however contains about the same amount of hormones as conventionally produced

milk. Let me repeat that because I think this is a

common source of confusion. Organic milk contains about the same amount of

hormones as conventionally produced milk. Some worry that these hormones in cow's milk could cause health

problems in humans. People have suggested that the estrogen in cow's milk might

promote the growth of hormone sensitive cancers such as breast or

ovarian cancer for example and others worry that the hormones in milk could be causing

early puberty in our children.

Now before I go any further, I want to just say one more time that I fully support anyone

who decides that they would rather not consume dairy. It's not essential for a healthy diet.

And there are any number of reasons that you might decide you don't want to consume dairy products.

You might feel, for example, that it's an exploitation of animals, or you might not feel for example that it's an exploitation of animals or you might not feel comfortable with the conditions that a lot of dairy cows are raised in.

But if your primary reason for avoiding dairy is concern over hormones, let me share what I've uncovered on

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