Ah, hormones in meat. The phrase has been haunting dinner tables and grocery aisles more seriously for about a decade now, depending on when you read this. Is it true? Can it hurt you? Will your steak turn you into a hormone-riddled superhero (or villain)? Let’s unpack this. While food safety is not a tea-party conversation for most folks, I live for this stuff. I love food science. I love cows. And I love talking about illusions around food. But here’s the thing: even I, a beef-loving, cow-appreciating industry insider, got momentarily hoodwinked about hormones in meat. So let me articulate my findings after I did some research, post befuddlement.
The Blinding Wool
It all started when I was scrolling through LinkedIn, my favorite dating site, and I stumbled across a post by Five Rivers, a trustworthy and well-respected beef producer (and honestly, I’m a bit of a Five Rivers fangirl). They posted:
“Did you know using hormone implants in cattle is entirely safe? Hormone implants (typically a version of estrogen) increase cattle’s efficiency in converting feed into lean muscle…”
Along with the below graphs:
I was like, “Yeah, beef rules!” but then I hit pause and thought, “Hold up, let’s dissect this.” Plants and animals? One of these is not like the other.
What You Should Know
Are hormones hurting you?
- Hormone implants are safe for humans to consume.
- The additional estrogen in hormone-implanted beef? Just one nanogram per eight ounces. Yes, one.
If you’re taking hormone treatments for medical reasons—say, fertility treatments—you might want to pay closer attention. Otherwise, per the science, you’re going to be fine.
For the tree hugger:
Remember, a hormone implant aims to make cattle more efficiently convert nondigestible by human products into human-grade protein as quickly as possible to feed a growing population. More efficient means fewer cow farts, which means less methane which means it’s the 70s again, and we’re headed to a global ice age and not a burnup.
But What About the Graphs? Math, Folks. Math.
Here’s where Five Rivers’ graphic (while pretty) falters. It compares nanograms of estrogen in beef to foods like tofu, but it’s a bit apples-to-oranges.
- The green graph measures nanograms of estrogen per eight ounces of food.
- The yellow graph measures total estrogen in a body (for example, 513,000 nanograms in an adult woman).
Back on the green graph, 2 nanograms is a little less than 3, 3 is a lot less than 252, and 252 is A LOT less than 51,483,600. The odds are pretty good for beef in that light. The issue is that plants and animals cannot be plainly treated as apples to apples in comparison. Ultimately, it’s an extremely dramatic way to make this comparison. It looks pretty scary.
Animals have naturally occurring hormones in their body just like humans; estrogen is the one we are looking at. The estrogen in an animal and synthetic estrogen growth implants act quite similarly to the estrogen in humans. Plants, on the other hand, have what is called phytoestrogen. Phytoestrogens are plant-derived compounds with a chemical structure similar to estrogen. They can mimic or modulate its effects on the body, which is why the above graph compares the two. Phytoestrogens, however, have a much weaker binding affinity for estrogen receptors. Somewhere between 100–1,000 times weaker. This changes the value of the above graph, so I have made some new ones for you below. Not a perfect apple to apple, but we are getting closer.
- The green graph is comparing estrogen to phytoestrogen products at a 100 times weaker binding effect.
- The green graph is comparing estrogen to phytoestrogen products at a 1,000 times weaker binding effect.
As you can see, I did not look up the phytoestrogen qualities of each plant and figure out its level of “dilution” compared to estrogen, but you get the point and the importance of the difference, and that is that you won’t get moobs after one bite of tofu.
This brings us to the funny part: Though less dramatic than sometimes stated, plants pack a hormone punch, and overindulging can lead to some interesting side effects.
The “Too Much of a Good Thing” List
1. Soy Products
- Examples: Tofu, soy milk, tempeh.
- Wild Side Effect: Man-Boobs(Gynecomastia).
- A 60-year-old man drank three quarts of soy milk a day and found himself shopping for bras. The culprit? Isoflavones in soy.
- Solution: He stopped guzzling soy, and things deflated back to normal.
- Lesson: Soy is fine. Three quarts a day is not.
Source: “Gynecomastia with Soy Product Consumption” – Endocrine Practice, 2008.
2. Flaxseeds
- Examples: Ground flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, flaxseed bread.
- Wild Side Effect: Surprise Periods.
- A woman upped her flax game, eating 4 tablespoons daily. Her body said, “Let’s double up!” and gave her two periods in one month.
- Solution: She reduced her flaxseed intake, and her cycle normalized.
- Lesson: More fiber ≠ more fun if your hormones start throwing curveballs.
Source: “Effect of Flaxseed Consumption on Hormonal Levels” – The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2000.
Other culprits:
- Alfalfa sprouts
- Cruciferous veggies (Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.)
- Whole grains
- Hops (Beer) – I love beer and I’m fine…
So, Should You Fear Hormones in Food?
No.
Here’s the bottom line:
- Natural and synthetic hormones in meat are insignificant compared to the hormones naturally present in our bodies.
- You’d need to eat a mountain of steak to see any hormonal impact. Same goes for tofu or flax.
So eat fresh and—most importantly—listen to your body. If something doesn’t sit right, skip it. And if you’re craving ice cream, have some. (Unless ice cream is your enemy, in which case, we need to find you a different vice.)
Final Thoughts
Food headlines about “HORMONES!” are meant to sound scary, but context matters. Science matters. Read between the lines and enjoy your steak, your tofu, or whatever fuels your day. And remember: Hormones might be in your food, but you’re still in charge of your plate.
Hey, have a nice day.