Heavy metals, vegetarians and omnivores

The isotopic compositions of metabolic transition metals in blood are different for vegetarians and omnivores, according to new research published in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry. Scientists collected blood from healthy volunteers who professed to follow one or the other of the diets and measured the concentrations of copper, iron and zinc by multi-collector ICP-mass spectrometry.

Zinc isotope compositions are different for omnivores and vegetarians but for copper, both diet and gender have an effect. The isotope composition of iron reflects the well-known gender variations where the ⁵⁶Fe/⁵⁴Fe isotope ratio is lower for males than females.