Iron Lacking in Diets of Quebec Women
“Both zinc and absorbable iron intakes correlated closely with the amount of beef in the diet,” says Huguette Turgeon-O’Brien, a professor of nutrition at Laval.
“The findings related to iron are particularly important for women, since 56 per cent of the women did not meet the Canadian Recommended Nutrient Intake for iron.” A deficiency of iron can have an adverse effect on resistance to infection, attention span, memory, learning ability, productivity, physical performance and endurance.
Although many foods contain iron, the type found in grain products and vegetables is not as easily available to humans as the heme iron in meat, poultry and fish. Beef is the richest source of heme iron. In fact, one 90 g (3 oz) serving of lean beef provides as much usable iron as four cups (1 L) of spinach.
“In our study, only one out of four women had what is considered an adequate intake of absorbable iron,” says Turgeon-O’Brien. “The men’s diets were somewhat better with 55 per cent meeting the suggested absorbable iron intake.”
Men also had higher intakes of zinc, primarily because they ate more beef. This mineral plays an important role in normal growth and development. Only the oldest group of women, those over 65 years of age, had inadequate zinc intakes on the day studied. If this lack of zinc is ongoing. it could result in less resistance to infection, poor wound healing and loss of taste.
“As nutritionists, we often stress the importance of vegetables, but we mustn’t forget the role meat plays in the diet as a source of essential minerals,” concludes Turgeon-O’Brien. “Eating beef regularly is a good way to improve both iron and zinc status. Actually, we found that meat eaters tended to have more balanced meals overall, consuming more vegetables and grain products as well.”
