In Other Nutrition Related News

Jun 09, 2006 21:41

Possible link between Diabetes and meat

From ABCnews.com

This link was probably a small subset of the study, but gives a little more info.

June 9, 2006 - Harvard researchers say there is a risk relating to do a certain form of iron found in meat, which may contribute to diabetes through long term damage to body cells.



This latest study in the journal Diabetes Care adds to existing evidence there may be a link.

The report involved more than 80,000 women for 20 years. According to researchers, those who consumed a lot of red meat had a nearly 30% higher risk of developing Type II Diabetes.

Iron from plant foods and supplements which is not as easily absorbed is not related to the diabetes risk.
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Interestingly enough, I just read an article that studied nutrient profiles between omnivores and vegans. As far as iron goes, vegans suffered no greater risk of anemia or iron deficiency than omnivores. There was statistically no difference in the number of people (all women) with anemia in the groups.

Vegans had lower levels of ferritin which is a globular protein that collects free iron. Typically, low levels of ferritin signal anemia, but hemoglobin counts in most vegans are normal. Ferritin is also something called a "C-Reactive Protein" which the body sends out when inflammation occurs. There is a generally strong correlation between high C-Reactive Protein levels and risk of heart disease, so having low ferritin levels while having normal hemoglobin levels could be beneficial.

Btw, in the the study, across the board, vegans were no different than omnivores in getting sufficient zinc, Calcium, Magnesium, Protein, all vitamins with the exception of B12. Omnivores may ingest more of these things, but vegans get sufficient amounts.

Vegan women had the lowest B12 levels. Men seemed to be ok in everything. I left the article at work, so I don't have the exact citation.
jv

articles-diet, news, nutrients, body-diabetes

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