Laboratory models suggest that extreme doses of heme iron can be harmful, but what about the effects of human nutritional dosage?
Muscle meat has heme protein, which contributes to the meat’s taste. The roots of soy plants also have heme protein, which is used to allow impossible burgers to provide similar flavors and aromas to plant-based meats. Is there any downside to the problem?
When the European Food Safety Agency considered the safety of adding heme iron to foods, its main concern was the potential increase in the risk of colon cancer. Does heme iron cause cancer, as shown below and in my video at 1:00? We know that meat can cause cancer. Processed meat – bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages and lunch meat are considered group 1 carcinogens. So, we know that when you cause cancer, something like smoking, it causes cancer in people with the same level of certainty, but things like burgers probably cause cancer in people like DDT. But what is the role of heme iron?
There are all kinds of potential mechanisms to explain cancer risk. Meat contains proinflammatory long-chain omega-6 arachidonic acid and aging and cancer-associated methionine, trans fats, and endogenous hormones, such as IGF-1. It goes without saying that it is embedded in animals as an “exogenous hormone growth promoter.” Secondly, there are all the toxic contaminants that accumulate food chains, such as pesticides and formaldehyde.
According to the prestigious IARC, the international institution for cancer research, “There is strong evidence that HAAS (acyclic environmental amines) contribute to the carcinogenic mechanisms associated with the consumption of lean meat by causing DNA damage.” These DNA-damaging compounds form when muscle tissue is exposed to high dry heat such as grilling, roasting, baking, and baking. There is also “strong evidence” that the formation of so-called N-nitroso compounds contributes to the mechanisms that cause cancer. These are carcinogens that can form in the intestines when you eat meat. However, there is also “strong evidence that heme (heme) iron contributes to the carcinogenic mechanisms associated with red and processed meat.”
Normally I might leave it there, but other prestigious organizations I respect are more tentative, like the American Cancer Institute and the World Cancer Research Fund. They agree that there is some evidence that “consumption of foods containing heme iron may increase the risk of colorectal cancer,” but they are considering evidence suggesting that such connections are limited.
Much of the available evidence is based on lab animal data, including a study entitled “Dietary heme induces intestinal mutations, exacerbates colitis, and enhances adenoma development in mice.” Diet heme destroys the gut flora, exacerbates inflammation, and enhances tumor development in mice. However, it is important to note that in all experimental animal models used, rodents consumed meat or heme, the equivalent of humans eating 40,000 pounds (18,000 kilograms) of meat per day. Even the smallest dose is about 12 impossible burgers each day.
Another study attributed the “central role of heme iron” in the development of colon cancer associated with meat intake, argued that “it aims to determine nutritional dosages, which is the main factor that proposes a mechanism for cancer promotion by lean meat.” Therefore, heme said “dose was chosen to mimic the consumption of lean meat,” and in fact, the tumor burden increased significantly, as seen here and at 3:41 in my video.
The researchers concluded that their results strongly suggest that “heme iron is associated with promoting colon cancer, at concentrations in line with human consumption of lean meat,” meaning that it is associated with cancer development. However, when participants looked at the actual diet they were given to them and did math, they were 500 times the level of hem seen in people’s diets, exceeding about 20 pounds of meat per day. Of course, even if they actually used the right dose, they will still get data for the wrong species.
This is part of nine video series on plant-based meat. If you missed other previous installments, please see the related posts below.
The last two videos of the series will be next. See Heme-induced N-nitroso compounds and fat oxidation. Is heme why meat is carcinogenic?
