The variations in recommendations are due entirely to the fact that they are just estimates. Between you and me, nobody really has a clue how much we should consume of any one nutrient. But I wouldn't recommend attempting to get anything from wholemeal pasta, or gruel.
I love a nicely turned phrase, and this one is a gem: "... an abomination with as much flavour and appeal as workhouse gruel". I've never had gruel, nor have I lived in a workhouse, though as a teenager I sometimes believed I was living in one. Moving on, I noticed that recommended daily iron numbers were different in UK from those in the US. Is this just due to differences of opinion in those who set the numbers, or are there environmental differences that affect the values? Given the abysmal state of US food, I'd have expected the values to be reversed.
Maria - I usually eat meat with a pile of veggies. Will the phytate in veggies migrate over and interfere with absorption of iron from meat? (Same question with polyphenols as well.)
The variations in recommendations are due entirely to the fact that they are just estimates. Between you and me, nobody really has a clue how much we should consume of any one nutrient. But I wouldn't recommend attempting to get anything from wholemeal pasta, or gruel.
I love a nicely turned phrase, and this one is a gem: "... an abomination with as much flavour and appeal as workhouse gruel". I've never had gruel, nor have I lived in a workhouse, though as a teenager I sometimes believed I was living in one. Moving on, I noticed that recommended daily iron numbers were different in UK from those in the US. Is this just due to differences of opinion in those who set the numbers, or are there environmental differences that affect the values? Given the abysmal state of US food, I'd have expected the values to be reversed.
Maria - I usually eat meat with a pile of veggies. Will the phytate in veggies migrate over and interfere with absorption of iron from meat? (Same question with polyphenols as well.)