Chicken On Roids

By Lisa VanWilliams

My mom swears that "back in her day" young girls were definitely not as stacked as they are nowadays. She's always blamed the production changes that have happened to chicken and milk over the course of several decades. The statistics match the evolution of changes that have occurred as a result of these environmental pollutants now in our food.

The Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics did a comparison study* over a span of 25 years that measured breast development to gauge the start of puberty and the results were staggering:

"In that time span, the rate of white 7-year-old girls entering puberty doubled, from five percent to more than 10 percent.
Black and Hispanic girls are, on average, maturing at an even faster rate, with nearly 25 percent of black girls and 15 percent of Hispanic girls entering puberty by age seven!
The average age of the first period has declined as well. In the 19th century the onset of menstruation occurred around the age of 15. Now the average age of the first period is around 12."*

The scientists say that factors such as hormones in food, pesticides in produce, obesity, and phthalates in plastics and cosmetics may be to blame.

The US FDA allows the following hormones to be used in food production*:

• Estradiol
• Progesterone
• Testosterone
• Zeranol
• Trenbolone acetate
• Melengestrol acetate

BUY ORGANIC AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
We have always gotten organic milk for our children, but just recently made the switch to organic chicken. After handling chicken for many many years, there are some major noticeable differences between non-organic and organic chicken. Some of the differences in my opinion:

• organic is way less slimy/meat is dryer in texture
• organic has less fat/waste
• meat is leaner on organic chicken

Here is a great video on Youtube that goes into more detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QPd1ZojStg

You end up getting a fraction of what we were use to for the price, but it's worth it. Two organic chicken breasts run around $10. I used to be able to buy the family pack at my local grocery store with 6 chicken breasts on roids for the same price. You get what you pay for.

Organic steak is pricey as well and we are only doing organic ground beef at this time. Someday maybe a nice steroid free steak won't cost $50 for two. Until then, we will limit our intake on "juiced up" beef, or splurge on occasion with organic beef.  We try to do the best we can for our family :)

Sources:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/3/e583.long
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/08/26/why-are-more-girls-starting-puberty-early.aspx
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm055436.htm