> What I've Learned. Meat: Grows the Brain or Rusts the Body? YouTube, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MH2ZKt35K4>. Accessed 16 Aug. 2021. # Meat: Grows the Brain or Rusts the Body? - Sharon Moalem, _Survival of the Sickest_ - Heme iron is a suspect compound in meat: it is more bioavailable than the non-heme iron contained in plants - WHO report says that "there is inadequate evidence in experimental animals for the carcinogenicity of consumption of red meat / of heme iron" - Another report found that 47% of iron deficiencies come from pre-kindergarten children - Low iron levels in children are correlated with low IQ and poor concentration - The higher the iron intake throughout pregnancy, the more mature or the more complex grey matter was at the time of birth - There appears to be preferential fetal use of maternally ingested iron derived from an animal-based heme source - Vegetarians have consistently higher rates of anemia - Hemochromatosis is a genetic condition making your body store too much iron - Increase in iron concentration is common with aging - Human storage form of iron, ferritin, is correlated with visceral fat and insulin resistance - The most common causes of elevated ferritin levels are likely obesity, inflammation, and daily alcohol consumption - You should not manage iron levels with diet, since you would deprive yourself from many other nutrients - High levels of iron are more common in men because women lose iron with their menstruations - Blood donors have lower rates of heart disease and cancer - Therapeutic blood letting improves biomarkers for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease - Paleolithic humans, despite ingesting a lot of animal food (and heme iron), were probably at a much higher risk of being low on iron (because of blood loss from infection / wounds…) - Since the advent of agriculture and an iron-poor diet, it is possible our genetics developed ways for us to hold on to iron even more - Heme deficiency may be a factor in cognitive decline