In Mongolian adults with type 2 diabetes, high ferritin levels don’t seem to be linked to body-wide inflammation — they might just come from eating a lot of iron-rich foods instead.

If you're a Mongolian adult with type 2 diabetes and have high levels of a protein called ferritin in your blood, you might be at greater risk for heart problems over the next 10 years — and this seems to be true even if your other signs of inflammation are normal.

In Mongolian adults with type 2 diabetes, people with more stored iron in their bodies tend to have higher 'bad' and total cholesterol levels — which might mean how the body stores iron affects cholesterol.

If you're a Mongolian adult with type 2 diabetes and eat a lot of meat, your body might store more iron — and this could be because meat adds extra iron to your system.

In Mongolian adults with type 2 diabetes, eating meat affects both ferritin levels and heart disease risk, but ferritin doesn’t seem to be the reason for that link.