6a81a3c5   
   XPost: soc.culture.indian, alt.fan.jai-maharaj, alt.animals.ethics.vegetarian   
   XPost: soc.culture.usa   
      
   "Thanks for your reply.  I'm curious why iron would be different   
   chemically in terms of absorption.  One possibility is because of it's   
   requirement in hemoglobin.  Perhaps animal blood hemoglobin is directly   
   absorbable?  However, I am more interested in empirical evidence than   
   theory.."   
      
   You are close, the iron in animal sources is very nearly in the form it   
   is found in humans because we share much of the biochemistry with all   
   animals.  This is in large part the form as in hemoglobin.  We share   
   very much less biochemstry with plants where the iron comes in   
   biochemical compounds not found in animals.  This is not theory but   
   based entirely on empirical observation.   
      
   > Low iron has high risk for cognitive and mental developmental problems   
   > for children and other risks for adults.   
      
   "Again, I'm curious how these things can be ascertained.  Assuming you   
   are correct that diets low in animal protein have less absorbable iron,   
   this would still be difficult to show epidemiologically.  There is   
   probably a bias towards countries with more diagnosis which will skew   
   statistics.  Is there any such evidence or are your claims based on   
   theory?"   
      
   The evidence is epidemically derived by national public health groups   
   and collectively by the who.  There is little if any controversy on this   
   point.  The low iron status is very well known and you will find many   
   efforts to provide iron in the diet by adding it to the diet as   
   supplement in foods, but not as a vitamin pill.   
      
   "I also see that many supplements specifically advertise low iron   
   content, Bfor men.  Do you think that there is a risk of too much iron   
   for men?"   
      
   There can be if very high levels of animal based diets are the norm.   
   The body normally adjusts iron levels by a method which either rejects   
   it in the gut if levels are too high or by storing it in tissue   
   internally.  This is a very conservative process and normally iron loss   
   is quite low.  But with high animal source diets the control process can   
   be overwhelmed too much on the high side.  Women tend not to have this   
   problem and growing children require added iron for tissue growth   
   including a growing blood supply.  There are also genetic disorders   
   where the control fails and toxic levels can result.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)