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How much estrogen is in a beef burger

Instead of that beef burger, you choose a tofu burger, because it’s HEALTHY ! Did you know, that a tofu burger has more estrogen in it, than a hormone replacement pill ?

You know they’re using synthetic hormones in cows.

And, this makes you NERVOUS.

You don’t want to be exposed to these “hormones”. They’ve been implicated in early puberty, obesity, cancer etcetera etcetera etcetera.    Plus, there is the issue of cholesterol and farting cows, warming the planet etc.

So, you’re taking precautions………

Instead of that beef burger, you choose a tofu burger.

It’s GOOD for you and GOOD for the planet.

So what’s the deal with hormones in animal products ?  Should you be worried ?

Hormones in food

The regulatory authorities, think NOT.

But, there lots of gurus, who suggest, hormones in animal products are a problem.

A team of agricultural researchers, decided to take a look, at the just how much “estrogen”, was in the foods we eat.  In particular, they looked in livestock that have been TREATED with synthetic steroids, that mimic the action of the natural hormones testosterone, 17 beta-estradiol and progesterone.

Now to do this, they went shopping….

The shopping spree

They selected a couple of items.

• Skim milk
• Ground beef patties made from
  • Animals that had been raised organically
  • Animals that had received an anabolic steroid and estrogen implant (Synovex Choice^TM)
• Tofu burger patties
• Boil in a bag rice

They took their purchases, back to the lab and then prepared them, so they could see, how they impacted the growth of a special cell line, which needs estrogen to grow.

The E-screen

Allows researchers  to calculate how much “estrogen” is in a sample, by measuring estrogenic activity, not just how many molecules of 17-beta estradiol, there are.

The advantage of this, is that molecules that behave  like an estrogen, but aren’t actually, estrogen, can be “seen”.   The results are then reported as estradiol equivalents (E2Eqs) . in the food item, on a serving basis.

So what happened ?

A little estrogen with my hamburger

All the products, had some estrogenic activity.

In terms of the beef burger patties, there was a small increase, in the estrogenic content of the beef patty, made from animals that had received the anabolic steroid implants.

Ground beef burgers prepared from steers raised with steroid implant and  without  growth-promoting implants.  Copyright 2019  USA government

Should you panic ?

Probably not,  in the big picture of things, the difference is small and the actual level of estrogenic activity, is in the picogram range.

A picogram, is a 1000 times smaller than a nanogram,which is a 1000 times smaller than a microgram, which is a 1000 times smaller than a milligram, which is a 1000 times smaller than gram. And to get a gram, for example of sugar, you would need to measure out a quarter  teaspoon of sugar.

 As I said, it is a TINY TINY AMOUNT !

Plus, the actual amount of estrogen, that survives the trip, through your gut and manages, to get into your circulation, is going to considerably less, than what you consume.

So if you’re eating a beef burger, you don’t need to worry, about hormones at least.  But what if you’re eating a tofu burger ?

A plateful of estrogen

Remember,  our team, looked at a basketful of items….. among them rice, milk and tofu burgers.

All of which had estrogenic activity.

To help, put their findings into perspective, the team, did a few calculations,  to determine, how much “estrogen”, would be, consumed, when you eat, an average, serving, of the items they tested.

To put these numbers in perspective, they compared these to a dose of Premarin®.

This is one of the hormone pills, prescribed to women who are opt to taking HRT (hormone replacement therapy),  after a hysterectomy or menopause.

Here are the results…….

Estrogenic activity of foods on  serving size basis  and Premarin®.  Copyright 2019 USA government

NOTE ;  The graph is using a logarithmic scale, which means that the differences, are actually much bigger than they appear, at first glance.

A tofu burger, contained three times the estrogenic activity of a dose of hormone replacement therapy;  while other foods –a quarter pound ground beef burger at approximately  equal calorie count, a serving of milk, or rice, were all at least 750-fold less estrogenic.

Hello !

A tofu burger, has more ‘estrogen” in it, than a Premarin® pill.

At these kinds of levels, a tofu burger, WILL give you a temporary estrogen spike, which COULD upset, your hormone balance.  If you’re a girl, maybe this doesn’t matter a huge amount.  But if, you’re not a girl, this could be  A BIG ISSUE, in the long run.

So, if you want to create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY………..

Eating that beef burger patty, might not be so bad after all.

Further reading

Want to discover more ways to create BETTER BODY CHEMISTRY ?