Here's a recent article that I find quite unsettling:

Balanced veggie diets give kids a healthy choice

Even before her quintuplets were conceived, Florida's Gayle Nelson Folkersen knew she didn't want her kids eating meat, fish, eggs or dairy products. A committed vegan since age 16, Nelson Folkersen has said she values both the nutritional benefits of the strict vegetarian diet and its lessons in compassion and kindness toward animals. But in an unusual custody battle, the father of the 10-year-old quintuplets is seeking primary residential custody, charging that Nelson Folkersen has "serious psychological control issues" and won't let her children eat animal products. One of the rewards, she said, was knowing that her children weren't ingesting pesticides, chemicals and hormones. Another was raising children who are "growing into compassionate human beings who care about other living beings and the environment."

To this I would say: If you are going to remove hormones from your diet you will starve. It amazes me how the buzz words such as hormones, antibiotics and chemicals generate such fear. In fact they have all contributed to extending the life expectancy of the American citizen to nearly 80 years of age.

Furthermore, the ignorance about science slays me. A mother who avoids animal products for fear of hormones turns to soy? One serving of beef with the assistance of hormones in the production phase contains 1.89 nanograms of estrogen. One tablespoon of soybean oil contains 28,000 nanograms of estrogen. In fact recently USA Today ran a story about the trend in American women increasing soy consumption instead of taking Hormone Replacement. Link here to read, Seeking soy as alternative to hormones

If you read and follow the impact of estrogen and hormones on cancers and healthy living, you know that it is very complex and ongoing. Here is what we do know - healthy living is a combination of a balanced variety of foods and exercise. Looking for the silver bullet or fad never has, nor ever will, improve on that.

This week's Amanda Nolz Chewing the Cud.

Tumbleweeds, rugged mountains and sloping sandhills weren't the only things greeting me as I arrived in Raton, New Mexico. I was welcomed into the state with a raging hail storm. This didn't damper the spirits of the New Mexico Cattlegrower's Association members who had gathered for their mid-year meeting this weekend. Link here to listen to Amanda's shows.