is it healthier to eat no meat?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I think you're starting to gain a glimmer of understanding.

People with a diet high in red meat have an increased risk of getting cancer. This does not mean that heme iron causes cancer. It means that excessive levels of heme in a diet may result in the occurrence of certain cancers. Thinking of heme iron as bad or dangerous is just plain dumb and stupid - it is an essential micronutrient (your body won't work without it).

Boru

It obviously isn't. Your body can convert free iron into heme iron. Or else all vegetarians and semi-vegetarians would be anemic.

Many vegetarians are at an elevated risk for anemia (both regular and pernicious) because free iron is poorly absorbed. That’s what iron supplements are for.

I’m unfamiliar with the mechanism by which free iron is converted into heme iron. If this is true, there should be no difference in the cancer rates you mentioned earlier, since low iron is also a risk factor.

Boru