Why you need meat and fat, from womb to old age

The latest research reveals links between brain development, ulcerative colitis and risk of falling

People worry about the consequences of bringing a child into the world for fear of a range of apocalyptic scenarios: nuclear war, the consequences of climate change and just the general madness and brutality of it all.

I’m more concerned about iron deficiency anaemia. A study published in September revealed that over 80% of pregnant women in Ireland are iron deficient by the time they reach their third trimester. These findings were based on data collected from 641 women, generally considered healthy. They were not ‘at-risk’ or from deprived backgrounds.

Being modern, educated women, probably familiar with media reports of the multiple health dangers of eating too much red meat, they were probably careful to restrict consumption of this richest and most bioavailable source of iron.

Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, this study unfortunately did not include information on the women’s diets. But we do know that most of the participants – nearly three-quarters – were sufficiently health-conscious to take iron-containing supplements, mainly multivitamins.

The supplements clearly weren’t enough to cover their deficit. I’d hazard a guess that whatever their level of nutrition awareness, most of these women had no idea that iron requirements increase 2-3 fold in pregnancy.

It is reasonable to assume that the findings of this study can be extrapolated to the wider population. Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency in the world. It was once associated with people on low incomes, but that is no longer the case.

Lack of iron is also usually associated with anaemia. But for the unborn child, the consequences extend much further.

A baby born to an iron-deficient mother is more likely to suffer from impaired intellectual ability. There is very little iron in breastmilk, so the baby needs to build stores while still in the womb. That is only possible if supplies are adequate.

Low iron puts children at risk of developing mood disorders and the behavioral disorder ADHD. There is also the risk of developing autism: iron deficiency anaemia has been identified in up to 30% of children with autism spectrum disorder.

‘It is unfortunately common to observe that severe iron deficiency during early childhood induces cognitive deficits that can persist after 10 years of treatment with iron.’

Screening for iron deficiency during pregnancy is not common, in Ireland or elsewhere.

Let’s hope that not too many pregnant women get hold of the 3^rd October copy of the German magazine, Der Spiegal. In it, sociology academic (and vegan) Martin Winter claims that ‘The man who eats meat not only subjugates nature, but also symbolically the woman’.  Meat is not just murder now, it’s misogyny. It’s probably also responsible for all sorts of hate crimes and natural disasters.

Something else that these pregnant women (and possibly Martin Winter) might also be lacking is arachidonic acid (ARA).