Women have not always lived longer than men. The "mortality gap" is a recent phenomenon. Smoking and heart disease are responsible for most excess male deaths in the 20th century.
This article suggests that the reason men are more affected by cardiovascular disease might be due to the higher amount of iron in ther bodies during their youth.
- One reason for that delay in onset of cardiovascular disease could be that women are relatively iron-deficient compared to men — especially younger women, those in their late teens and early 20s — because of menstruation. Iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which glom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell.
It also says:
- In fact, in our diets, red meat is the main source of iron, and lack of iron is probably one major reason that being vegetarian is healthy for you.
As someone who's been trying a vegetarian diet for a couple of weeks, I wonder if I should be happy about this? I was actually worried about developing an iron deficiency and was thinking about how best to supplement it. Or is this one of those "pick your poison" situations? organicAnt, what do you think?
Here's the search result for foods highest in Iron: http://nutritiondata.self.com/foods-000119000000000000000-w.html
1. Thyme 2. Parsley 3. Spearmint 4. Marjoram
Herbs and leafy greens are warehouses of nutrition. Beef is 31st on the list. The idea that meat is highest in iron is another diet myth. If that was the case where would herbivores get their minerals from? As a general rule the darker the leafy green the higher in nutrition. But of course the condition of the soil in which the plants are grown is crucial. Industrial agriculture grown vegetables, where farmers routinely add just 3 (N-P-K) elements to the soil for decades (to purely aid the growth) will not be as nutritious as grown in organic compost made up of a holistic cocktail of nutrition. What I'm trying to say is that vegetables are only as nutritious as the soil they are grown in. But this is another discussion.
To answer your question, I'd point to this video by Dr Greger http://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-safety-of-heme-vs-non-heme-iron/
The whole http://nutritionfacts.org website is an excellent nutrition resource.
- how best to supplement it.
Dark, leafy greens. I'm a bit pedantic about this, but honestly, starting to drink kale/spinach shakes for breakfast has improved my energy and for whatever reason, changed my tastes. Most artificial dessert food tastes absolutely dreadful now, with the strange exception of cocoa pebbles.
Well the answer is simple really. You're just coo coo for cocoa "pebbles". It really is a shame you didn't say puffs.
Boatloads of kale/spinach(Maybe 2cups?) enough OJ and full fat greek yogurt to get that to blend down, chia seeds, protein powder (I prefer hemp or pea protein, no weird hormone effects like soy or whey) a banana and usually some frozen mango/kiwi chunks.
I've heard a theory about the changes in taste being related to gut bacteria and their effect on your stomachs nervous system.