Vegetarian World

Meat Iron: unnecessary!!!

 

 

 

 

The importance given to the iron in meat is excessive!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iron is iron, a single mineral.

 

However, this iron can be "disguised" as heme and non-heme:

 

Oheme ironit has an absorption of about 20% and suffers little influence from the factors that hinder or promote its absorption.

 

already thenon-heme ironhas an absorption of about 10% and is more influenced by factors that stimulate or inhibit its absorption.

 

The plant kingdom is composed exclusively of non-heme iron. 

 

The difference between these two irons is only in their absorption. Entering the organism they are the same and have the same functions.

 

The iron in the meat is not this "almighty" heme iron, which is more absorbed:

 

A person needs to absorb 1 to 2 mg of iron daily.As the absorption of iron is not simple, the recommended intake of iron is much higher than what we need to absorb.

 

Men need about 8 mg of iron a day and women 18 mg.

 

Following the meat consumption recommendation recommended by many nutritionists of 100 grams of lean meat per day and, as this meat is one of the richest in iron, the person will be ingesting 3 mg of iron.

 

Here is the crux of the matter!

 

The iron in meat is 60% non-heme (same as vegetables!!) and 40% heme.

 

So, if the issue of eating meat is because you ingest heme iron, 100 grams of meat contains 1.2 mg of heme iron (40% of total iron), not 3 mg!

 

But does not stop there! After the animal is slaughtered, the meat is not consumed immediately.

 

The longer it is stored, the more heme iron becomes non-heme. And to make matters worse, heat also enhances the transformation of heme iron into non-heme.

 

This means that when you eat meat, you are consuming far less than 40% heme iron, that is, far less than 1.2 mg of iron, but let's assume you actually ingested that 1.2 mg.

 

This heme iron is 20% absorbed. This means that when you take in 1.2 mg of iron, you are absorbing 0.24 mg of iron. Remember that you need to absorb 1 to 2 mg per day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Through these calculations we can clearly see that meat intake does not satisfy daily iron requirements.

 

Studies with vegetarians clearly demonstrate that iron intake, contrary to popular belief, is higher than that of non-vegetarians.

 

These studies show that vegetarians usually ingest about 15 to 20 mg of iron per day, and since its absorption is about 10%, we absorb 1.5 to 2 mg per day, which is the necessary amount.

 

To help even more, vitamin C is one of the biggest promoters of iron absorption. Vegetarians ingest twice as much vitamin C as omnivores, which strongly favors iron absorption (Bioavailability).

 

Population studies have clearly demonstrated that the prevalence of iron anemia in vegetarians is the same as that found in omnivores.

 

The most recent scientific article that discusses this fact can be found under the title "Bioavailability of iron, zinc, and other trace minerals from vegetarian diets" and can be found with the reference: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 78(3 Suppl):633S-639S, 2003 Sep.

 

Thus, we cannot, under any circumstances, say that the iron contained in the meat is as important as it is alleged.

 

Source: Well-Fed Group _ Text by Dr Eric Slywitch (Author of the book: "I became a vegetarian, now what?").