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Iron is found in the diet in two forms—heme iron, which is well absorbed, and nonheme iron, which is poorly absorbed. The best dietary source of absorbable (heme) iron is lean red meat. Chicken, turkey, and fish are also sources of iron, but they contain less than red meat. Cereals, beans, and some vegetables contain poorly absorbed (nonheme) iron.
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This is wrong on two levels. Firstly red meat is not the best source of iron, for example, clams, oysters, etc have around 10 times the amount of iron per calorie that red meat does. Secondly the idea that non-heme iron is "poorly absorbed" because its absorption rates are lower than heme-iron is wrong headed. If this were true vegetarians would all be walking around with anemia but they don't suffer from this anymore than people eating meat. Also it is well known that the absorption rates of non-heme iron depend on numerous factors, for example, ones iron status. The body is very good at down-regulating and up-regulating the absorption of non-heme iron while it does a poor job of regulating heme iron. So testing the absorption rates of non-heme iron is rather difficult.
Someone with a significant case of iron-deficient anemia is going to be put on a supplement regime not told to eat more meat.
Non-heme iron is absorbed at lower rates but its not, in general, poorly absorbed. People don't have trouble meeting their iron needs from non-heme iron.
It is, but not because the lack of meat, instead its due to a lack of nutritious foods in many developing countries. Western vegetarians don't have higher rates of anemia than those eating meat.
HUH, I HAD iron-deficient anemia and all of the problems associated with it. So, the treatment that I found MOST effective was eating a source of iron...that is both highly bioavailable and is effected very little by foods that contain oxalic acid (eggs, tea, spinach), which blocks non-heme iron.
Most of the supplements are also non-heme and very poorly absorbed.....that is why someone very anemic might be give hundreds of milligrams of non-heme iron in an attempt to swiftly correct the problem. The human body, most times, responds much better to food due to the synergistic effects...as opposed to a man-made frankensupplement.
Someone with a significant case of iron-deficient anemia is going to be put on a supplement regime not told to eat more meat.
Non-heme iron is absorbed at lower rates but its not, in general, poorly absorbed. People don't have trouble meeting their iron needs from non-heme iron.
It is, but not because the lack of meat, instead its due to a lack of nutritious foods in many developing countries. Western vegetarians don't have higher rates of anemia than those eating meat.
No just developing countries.....leading nutritional deficiency in the USA:
This is wrong on two levels. Firstly red meat is not the best source of iron, for example, clams, oysters, etc have around 10 times the amount of iron per calorie that red meat does. Secondly the idea that non-heme iron is "poorly absorbed" because its absorption rates are lower than heme-iron is wrong headed. If this were true vegetarians would all be walking around with anemia but they don't suffer from this anymore than people eating meat. Also it is well known that the absorption rates of non-heme iron depend on numerous factors, for example, ones iron status. The body is very good at down-regulating and up-regulating the absorption of non-heme iron while it does a poor job of regulating heme iron. So testing the absorption rates of non-heme iron is rather difficult.
UMMMM, lots of people ARE walking around with iron-deficient anemia....including those pasty and zombie'ish Vegans/Vegetarians.
Much of the absorption of non-heme iron is blocked by various foods/drinks.....heme-iron is insignificantly effected by the same foods/drinks.
HUH, I HAD iron-deficient anemia and all of the problems associated with it. So, the treatment that I found MOST effective was eating a source of iron...that is both highly bioavailable and is effected very little by foods that contain oxalic acid (eggs, tea, spinach), which blocks non-heme iron.
Did you ever try an iron rich vegetarian diet? I'm guessing not.....so what is one suppose to conclude from your anecdote?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency and the leading cause of anemia in the United States.
It is, but the rates are much lower than in the developing world. But, more importantly, vegetarians don't suffer from higher rates of iron deficiency anemia which is what you'd expect if heme-iron was critical to human health.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
UMMMM, lots of people ARE walking around with iron-deficient anemia....including those pasty and zombie'ish Vegans/Vegetarians.
I'm not sure what a "pasty and zombe'ish vegan/vegetarian" is but vegetarians in the United States do not have higher rates of anemia than those eating meat which demonstrates, rather clearly, that people aren't getting anemia because they are eating too little meat.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tickyul
Much of the absorption of non-heme iron is blocked by various foods/drinks.....heme-iron is insignificantly effected by the same foods/drinks.
Non-heme absorption is both enhanced and reduced by various dietary factors. If a vegetarian gets anemia they will be recommended to eat things that enhance absorption and limit the things that reduce absorption. Not very complicated.
Are eggs a complete and absolute substitute for meat? In other words will eggs give you everything red meat can like protein?
Eggs have higher quality protein than red meat so they are a better source then red meat. For other nutrients eggs and red meat differ but neither are essential in your diet.
why would you want to cut out delicious, succulent land meat? It's good for you and is amazing.....? If it's about the animals, they are going to die anyway, might as well enjoy them.
If you eat organic grass fed meat and dairy you will get CLA from it. Google it: conjugated linoleic acids.
You can get that from mushrooms, *and* there's no evidence that CLA has any use in humans. Therefore, for humans, it isn't a nutrient anyway so it doesn't matter what source it comes from.
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