Acne Magazine

This may sound a little out there, but some buy only organic milk, or stay away from milk altogether, as they believe it is not only bad for their skin (many believe dairy products contribute to acne), but also for the digestive system.  So, I decided to write a little about what kinds of milk are available that might be the lesser of two evils when it comes to drinking things that are better for our skin.

While shopping at Giant Eagle , I noticed that, in addition to their regular milk and organic milk, they had another variety called non rbSt/rbGH.  The rbST/rbGH stands for bovine somatropin for the first set of letters and bovine growth hormone is what the second set of letters stands for.  The bovine somatropin is a protein hormone fed to cows to produce about 20% more milk.  The bovine growth hormone is self explanatory.
The non rbST/rbGH milk comes from cows not fed these additives and only costs approximately 20 cents more per gallon.  Organic milk sells for almost twice the price of regular milk.  On the label for the non rbST/rbGH milk, it states that there is no signifigant difference between this milk and their regular milk.
I opted to look further into this statement as I find less chemical treatment of my food desirable while still keeping within my food budget.  One of the reasons people buy organic milk is to avoid the bovine growth hormone.  The concern is that milk treated with hormones could increase their risk of hormone related cancers.
The hormones were the main additive of a chemical nature that concerned me as my milk consumption averages about a quart per day.  How does this non rbST/rbGH milk differ from organic milk at twice the price?  Organic milk takes the non chemical purity of their product even further.  Organic milk comes from cows not treated with antibiotics.
The organic milk cows are fed grass or grains grown without pesticides.  Another standard held for organic milk is that these cows must have access to pasture. 
The elimination of pesticides, hormone additives and antibiotics clearlly make organic milk the winner health wise.  
Organic milk derived from cows who pasture is said to be higher in Conjugated Linoleic Acids- a factor that has been associated with lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes.
Organic foods, including milk, used to be available only in small stores and farmer’s markets, but now can be found in the large corporate grocery stores.  Organic foods are regulated legally in the U.S. and must be certified to sell their foods under the organic label.  Item for item, we each have to weigh out the health benefit versus the cost and how it will fit our grocery budget.