is it healthier to eat no meat?

[arewethereyet]

I have NOT been taking it my entire life, try again.  If you could read, you would say that I said about 3 years ago.

I had breast cancer in 2009.  Do the math.

You literally said that was your lifelong problem.

I said I have leaned toward being anemic.  I did not say I have been on iron supplements my whole life.  One does not equal the other.

This is why your 'facts' are always screwed up.  You hear what you want to hear to make it fit your narrative.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

No studies show that. It’s excessive heme iron that slightly increase the risk of colon and rectal cancer. Proper levels of heme keep you from dying.

Since 95% of the functional iron in your body at any given time is heme iron, it beggars belief that it’s bad for you.

Boru

I wonder if you think it's a good idea to drink blood... That's not how nutrition works at all. Just because cholesterol in your blood causes various health problems, that doesn't mean cholesterol you eat causes them. Similarly, just because heme iron in your blood doesn't cause colon cancer, that doesn't mean heme iron you eat doesn't cause it.

As a matter of fact, I had blood for breakfast yesterday.

You still don’t seem to grasp the difference between ‘cause’ and ‘increases risk’. Those studies you mentioned all come to more or less the same conclusion: a diet high in red meat increases the risk of colon cancer by about two tenths of one percent.

Boru

[FlatAssembler]

I wonder if you think it's a good idea to drink blood... That's not how nutrition works at all. Just because cholesterol in your blood causes various health problems, that doesn't mean cholesterol you eat causes them. Similarly, just because heme iron in your blood doesn't cause colon cancer, that doesn't mean heme iron you eat doesn't cause it.

As a matter of fact, I had blood for breakfast yesterday.

You still don’t seem to grasp the difference between ‘cause’ and ‘increases risk’. Those studies you mentioned all come to more or less the same conclusion: a diet high in red meat increases the risk of colon cancer by about two tenths of one percent.

Boru

As far as I understand it, it is widely agreed that around 7% of cancers are caused by heme iron. That's why vegetarians, once you control for factors such as smoking, have around 7% less chance of getting cancer.

[emjay]

I don't know about in general (except I personally couldn't imagine going vegetarian/vegan but that's just me) but there is one specific case in my family of a long term vegetarian having to go back to eating meat for health reasons, but granted they have other, complicating, health issues involved (which they're happy for me to talk about here), ie ME and it is assumed, long covid. Meaning they basically have very little energy most of the time and need to rest often. Eating meat again was to address deficiencies in iron, B vitamins, and zinc, that were thought might contribute to these other problems, but they say though it has helped to some degree, it hasn't solved the other health problems, which sadly remain an ongoing mystery since they always used to be so full of beans and now its a struggle for them even getting up the stairs etc.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

As a matter of fact, I had blood for breakfast yesterday.

You still don’t seem to grasp the difference between ‘cause’ and ‘increases risk’. Those studies you mentioned all come to more or less the same conclusion: a diet high in red meat increases the risk of colon cancer by about two tenths of one percent.

Boru

As far as I understand it, it is widely agreed that around 7% of cancers are caused by heme iron. That's why vegetarians, once you control for factors such as smoking, have around 7% less chance of getting cancer.

‘As far as [you] understand it.’  ‘Nuff said.

Boru

[FlatAssembler]

As far as I understand it, it is widely agreed that around 7% of cancers are caused by heme iron. That's why vegetarians, once you control for factors such as smoking, have around 7% less chance of getting cancer.

‘As far as [you] understand it.’  ‘Nuff said.

Boru

If what you are saying were true, vegetarians would have higher risk of getting cancer. But the evidence is clear that they have lower.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

‘As far as [you] understand it.’  ‘Nuff said.

Boru

If what you are saying were true, vegetarians would have higher risk of getting cancer. But the evidence is clear that they have lower.

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

[FlatAssembler]

If what you are saying were true, vegetarians would have higher risk of getting cancer. But the evidence is clear that they have lower.

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.

[The Grand Nudger]

All vegetarians are at higher risk for iron deficiency, Flat. That's the main thing to weigh or manage in light of whatever benefit you hope to extract from a vegetarian diet. Semi vegetarians less so because of that semi bit. I do love the word semi vegetarian, though. A beef burrito with cheese is my favorite semi vegetarian dish.

[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