Mr. Djibril M. Ba, a Pennsylvania State University Public Health Program PhD in Epidemiology student  will present two projects during the American Society for Nutrition’s conference in May.

“Association of Meat Consumption With Iron Deficiency Among Women of Reproductive Age in Sub Saharan Africa“ examines data from 3,811 women to see if there is a link between protein intake and iron deficiency.

The goal is to see if eating meat or fish leads to an altered risk of iron deficiencies in women. Analyzing serum transferrin receptors (TfR) levels showed that 31 percent had an iron deficiency. Those who consume meat more than twice a week are 14 percent less likely to have an iron deficiency. There was not a significant link between fish consumption and iron deficiencies, and no substantial link between meat consumption and pregnancy.

In addition to Mr. Ba, Penn State researchers Drs. Paddy Ssentongo, Guodong Liu, Robert B. Beelman, Xiang Gao, and John Richie contributed to this project.

In “Mushroom Consumption Is Associated with Low Risk of Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies,” Dr. Ba examines 20,797 cancer cases published in 17 studies from 1966 to 2019. The studies reviewed included observational studies of diet and cancer risk and included data on levels of mushroom intake. Dr. Ba pooled study results and assessed dose-response relationships between mushroom consumption and one’s risk of cancer.

Those who ate more mushrooms had a lower risk of cancer; higher mushroom consumption was linked to a lower risk of breast cancer. By increasing daily mushroom intake by 10 grams, a patient could lower their risk of cancer by 17 percent.