Written by Vegetarian Star on Thursday, May 13th, 2010 in Athletes-Games-Sports, Food & Drink, Nutrition-Health-Fitness.
Mike Tyson has been seen out and about since announcing he’s become a vegan and TMZ thinks the boxing legend has slimmed down from his diet.
The site also take a stab at Tyson’s new eating habits, saying, “So long Iron Mike … hello, Iron Deficient Mike!”
So disappointing, considering TMZ’s Harvey Levin was showing off a vegan wallet months ago.
If you think being vegetarian or vegan means iron deficiency and weakness, you need to watch your Popeye episodes because all the sailor man ate was spinach and he never missed a beat!
Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, has this to say about meatless diets and iron:
“Iron balance tends to be better on pure vegetarian diets than on other diets. Green leafy vegetables and legumes (beans, peas, and lentils) are rich in a form of iron that is more absorbable if your body needs more iron and less absorbable when your body already has plenty of iron. Avoiding dairy products helps, because they contain virtually no iron and can actually inhibit iron absorption.”
And Dr. Neal Pinckney from The Healing Heart Foundation adds this:
“Most vegetarian diets are high in ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which increases iron absorption up to six times, making the absorption of plant-based iron as good or better than animal-based iron.”
The next obvious step is to double check the list of vegetarian sources of iron to make sure you’re buying the right foods at the grocery store.
Then send a copy of the list to TMZ.
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