Question

Step 1 Read the Case Study

A young mother of a 4 year old child expresses concern regarding the milk her child is drinking. The family purchases milk with WIC (Women Infant Children) government assistance.

“I am not allowed to purchase organic milk” she states. The mother goes on to explain “I heard regular cow’s milk has hormones in it and I am worried about giving it to my child.”

How would you respond to this mother? Would it be prudent for her to forgo her WIC coupons to purchase organic milk, almond milk or soy milk instead? Think about what your answer would be before proceeding with the questions.

Step 2 Review Chapter 5 and Consider the following:

• The growth hormone used in dairy cows ( Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) is a peptide hormone.
• If the hormone passed into the milk one drinks, what would happen to a peptide hormone when ingested? Go through the process of digestion from mouth to absorption in the small intestine.

Step 3 Post Your Initial Response including the following:

How would you respond to this mother? Would it be prudent for her to forgo her WIC coupons to purchase organic milk, almond milk or soy milk instead? Use facts from the text with digestion, absorption, and how the cells make protein in the body.  

Answer 1

Regular milk contains Bovine Growth Hormones which are injected to increase milk yield, but as these are peptide hormones, they are broken down by normal process of digestion of proteins. Hence, the mother should not worry about purchasing regular milk and should not forgo her coupons to purchase organic milk.

Peptides are smaller molecules than proteins. They contain less number of amino acids.Their digestion is initiated in the small intestine by the enzyme Carboxypeptidase secreted from the pancreas. Carboxypeptidase breaks larger peptides into dipeptides, which are broken by intestinal enzyme dipeptidase into amino acids. Amino acids are then absorbed in the cells.