Red meat and cancer research

• WHO cancer agency report claimed red meat causes cancer.
• Six supporting studies cited; four from one research group.
• Three rodent studies: animals pre-injected with a carcinogen (“rocket fuel”) known to cause rodent bowel cancer, then fed red meat or derivatives
• No rodents developed bowel cancer; only precancerous lesions.

Vegan diets and B12

• Debate on plant-only vs animal diets

Eggs

• Contain all building blocks for a complete organism
• Cooking cut undigested egg protein from 35.1% to 5.7%, a six-fold reduction
• Cook eggs well if sensitive; eggs suit lacto-vegetarians

Iron deficiency

• Ferritin is an acute phase reactant; infection raises it without adding iron
• High ferritin with low usable iron is functional iron deficiency
• Bacterial lipopolysaccharide injection dropped free serum iron about 50% within 2 hours
• Dopamine, serotonin, and catecholamine synthesis require iron; the electron transport chain depends on it
• Deficiency causes fatigue and cognitive symptoms

Assessing inflammation

• Markers: CRP, ESR, serum amyloid A, hepcidin
• Negative acute phase reactants: albumin falls as ferritin rises

Causes and treatment

• Vegan or vegetarian diets lack heme iron; legume iron absorption is about 1 to 2%
• Other causes: malabsorption and blood loss
• Lactoferrin supplement, derived from breast milk, improves absorption and has antimicrobial activity

Red cell distribution width (RDW)

• Iron deficiency causes microcytic anemia
• Earliest sign is widening of red cell size spread

Vitamin B6

• Deficiency and toxicity symptoms nearly identical
• Gut microbes synthesize B6 and metabolize the amino acid serine
• Nerve symptoms may come from serine deficiency, not high B6; serine supplemented case by case

Folate

• Low folate common; linked strains: Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium infantis, Lactobacillus reuteri, Akkermansia muciniphila

Food sequencing

• Carbohydrates last lowers peak meal glucose by about one third

HbA1c

• Weighted toward recent glucose and affected by red cell lifespan
• Glycation inhibitors matter; carnosine from red meat; carnosine supplementation lowered HbA1c and glycation damage in type 1 diabetics

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM)

• Good for trends, poor for absolute values; sensor sits in interstitial fluid with a diffusion delay
• Hot showers cause spurious spikes
• Dietary changes show within 24 hours; about 2 weeks to steady state; insulin or sulfonylurea users need close medical monitoring early

Low blood pressure

• Underactive thyroid: most common undiagnosed cause
• Adrenal insufficiency: low aldosterone reduces sodium retention, blood volume, and pressure

Hypertension overdiagnosis

• Wrong cuff size inflates readings
• JAMA 2023 study, 195 adults: regular cuff on extra-large arms read about 19.5 points high

Meal frequency and protein

• Frequent eating does not stabilize blood sugar
• Areta protein dose and frequency study; four daily doses of whey isolate sufficed
• Whey leucine triggers the mTOR pathway for muscle and bone

Ketone monitoring

• Frequent eating with carbs suppresses ketones
• Keto-adapted people produce and use ketones at high, matched levels

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)

• Post-heart-attack dual antiplatelet therapy guidance adds a PPI for 12 months
• Icelandic study: over half of patients continued the PPI past the intended stop date

Gout and fructose

• Sugar, not red meat, drives gout
• Fructose metabolism depletes phosphate, raising uric acid
• Over two soft drinks daily about doubles gout attack risk