That's Fit

Ice cream a favourite indulgence of yours? Would you still eat it if it was made from breast milk? I know what you're probably thinking -- ick. But it's no joke. PETA recently urged ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's to start using milk from human mothers instead of milk from cows to make their famous frozen treats. The idea came after a revelation that a Swiss restaurant owner intended on carrying breast milk at his eatery.

I know I shouldn't find this gross ... but I do. Breast milk is full of important nutrients, but I still think it's best left for babies. What do you think? Is breast milk best? Would you eat this ice cream?

Not too many months ago, news stories broke about the inhumane treatment of cattle at slaughterhouses. In addition to other misdeeds at some slaughterhouses, so called "downer" cattle -- those that are too sick or injured to walk -- were being handled inhumanely.

The U.S. Agriculture Department announced last Tuesday that cattle that is sick or too injured to walk will not be allowed to enter slaughterhouses. The USDA hopes that this measure will help prevent the mistreatment of animals in these facilities. They also hope the measures will help ensure meat safety.

I'm not a vegetarian, but reports like this make me want to become one. While I think any measure to ensure the humane treatment of animals is good, I can't help but think that a ban against those cattle that are too sick or too injured to walk isn't really solving the problem at all. What do you think?

When people who want to drink raw milk live in a state where it's illegal, they often get around the law by buying a share of a cow. In many states, it's only legal to drink unpasteurized cow's milk if you own the animal, so by buying a share in a cow, they're allowed to drink its milk.

Even in states where selling and drinking raw milk is legal, the USDA and FDA are watching with concern. Demand for raw milk is on the rise, and they're worried that the milk will cause an outbreak of salmonella, listeria, or E. coli. Though no one tracks the sale of raw milk officially, dairy farmers say they're seeing more customers than ever.

The health benefits and dangers of raw milk are long debated. Some say that pasteurizing raw milk removes essential nutrients and makes the drink, essentially, junk food. Others -- the FDA included -- say that pasteurized milk is perfectly healthy and that drinking raw milk is putting your health at risk. What do you think?

Have fitness questions? Fitz has your answer. Our ThatsFit.com fitness expert -- and now your own virtual personal trainer -- will help you get fit, increase your overall health and do it in a fun way. Drop your questions here in the Comments section below and we'll choose two per week to publish on That's Fit! Learn more about Fitz here.

Q. Hi Fitz, I'm trying to lose weight, but exercising is a problem for me since I am almost 300 pounds. I have a bad knee and my hip hurts, so I am looking for an exercise tape that is low impact but helps me burn as many calories as possible during the work out. Thank you, Paula

A. Hello Miss Paula, I'm glad to hear from you. I've trained many people who weigh between 300 and 500 pounds, and the pain you're feeling in your knees and hip is not unusual. The more weight we carry, the more strain our joints endure. You're wise to look for low impact exercises.

I try to stay away from dairy, especially milk. It's been linked to breast cancer and since I've already had the disease, I tend to stray from anything even remotely associated with it. That's not to say dairy is all bad, though. In fact, it seems eating more calcium-rich dairy food may help in the battle of the bulge.

Study findings are preliminary but here's what they suggest: Dairy appears to reduce fat absorption. After overweight study participants ate meals containing either a high or medium amount of low-fat yogurt and milk, their blood-fat levels were 15 to 19 percent lower than those who ate only a small amount of dairy. Interestingly, results remained consistent even when the low-dairy eaters added a calcium supplement.

If you dare to consume dairy, you've got research backing your decision. For true weight loss results, though, make sure it comes straight from the cow.

Even though beef has been getting a bad reputation lately for bacterial contaminations, antibiotics, hormones, etc, many people still love eating it and can't give it up. Does that sound like you? If so, have you tried grass-fed beef? It really comes down to personal preference, like any kind of food, but here are 5 reasons why you should give grass-fed beef a try if you haven't already:

• Grass-fed beef is lower in bad fats, higher in good fats, and higher in several vitamins and antioxidants than other beef.
• Grass-fed cattle don't need as many antibiotics as cattle packed densely into a feed-lot do.
• Most grass-fed beef production practices do not include injections of growth hormones.
• Some studies have shown that grass-fed beef is less likely to harbor acid-resistant E.coli bacteria, due to differing stomach environments.
• Grass-fed cattle herds have never been affected by Mad Cow disease.

Despite serious concerns from serious people, the FDA is apparently planning to approve a new antibiotic for cattle. It's called cefquinome, and the reason for all the controversy is the fact that it belongs to the same class of antibiotics that are commonly used to treat many human infections, including diseases in children and meningitis. We are already dealing with a growing number of mutating drug-resistant bacterial strains and varieties, and this move is anticipated to make that problem even worse.

At this point the FDA plans to move forward and approve the medication, against the advice of its panel. In reading the article it sounds like a whole lot of politics and red tape to me. Ugh.