Vijay Jayaraj
Iron deficiency and the anemia it causes remain an ongoing global health problem, one only exacerbated by the war on meat waged by climate alarmists, whose hostility to animal protein is a manifestation of anti-human ideology.
Growing up in South Asia, I observed Indian eating habits where doctors prescribed moderate amounts of red meat to people with severe anemia, especially women during pregnancy. According to the World Health Organization, more than 40% of children and pregnant women in India and parts of sub-Saharan Africa are anemic.
The most common symptom of anemia is persistent fatigue, which is the result of iron-deficient red blood cells that are unable to adequately supply the body with oxygen. This condition puts a lot of stress on the cardiovascular system.
Research conducted in 204 countries between 1990 and 2019 showed that the most common cause of iron deficiency is a dietary lack of heme iron, an element found in meat.
An article published in the UK reported that “Meat is considered an important source of iron due to its heme iron content, which is more easily absorbed than the non-heme iron found in plants.” Anemia is said to be a long-standing problem in the UK . Studies show that the heme iron in meat can also enhance the absorption of non-heme iron from foods eaten during the same meal.
Cooked beef has the highest heme iron content, followed by lamb, pork and chicken.
According to 2021 data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, anemia rates are worst in the western region of sub-Saharan Africa, where 47% of the population is anemic. Other severely affected regions are South Asia and central sub-Saharan Africa, with incidence rates of approximately 36% each. In contrast, in North America, Western Europe and Australia, where red meat consumption is higher, anemia rates are less than 7%.
However, red meat, especially beef, has not been embraced by climate obsessives who claim that methane, a byproduct of cattle digestion, has the potential to heat the atmosphere to dangerous levels — an alarm that has no basis in science.
Overwhelming evidence shows that behind the climate panic is gross exaggeration of the warming potential of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, an important plant food without which life would not exist.
Even some who worry about the man-made climate emergency acknowledge that methane emissions from livestock are not a significant factor. However, that hasn't stopped governing councils in some Melbourne suburbs from encouraging a switch to a “plant-based diet” to avoid “looming climate and ecological crises”.
“There is substantial evidence to suggest that the emissions associated with current dietary patterns—particularly the high and increasing rate of consumption of animal products—are likely to make it impossible to limit global heating,” warned the Yarra City Council in an 81-page document.
Not even the hot air blown by the largest herd is more annoying than what this nonsense produces.
Methane has a short lifespan in the atmosphere, only 12 years. Through natural processes, it is converted into carbon dioxide, which is used as plant food through photosynthesis. Eventually, the methane emitted by the cows is recycled back into their bodies in the form of grass and other feed. The warming effect of adding any gas—whether from animals, decaying vegetation, or industrial activity—is too small to be noticeable.
It took centuries for human civilization to perfect the art of agriculture and animal husbandry to the point where it could produce enough iron-rich food for the world's 8 billion people. Having accomplished this extraordinary feat, some will impose a dystopia of meatless malnutrition in response to a non-existent climate crisis.
This is of course intolerable.
This review was first published on BizPac Reviews July 20, 2024.
Vijay Jayaraj is a researcher at the CO2 AllianceArlington, Virginia. He holds a master's degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, UK, and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, UK
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