Cast Iron Pans Are a Reliable Source of Dietary Iron
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), abouttwo billion people suffer from anemia , mainly due to a lack of iron in their diet. So, besides eating more iron-rich foods, another good way to increase your iron intake is to cook in a cast iron skillet.
In this article, Examine.com looks at how cooking in a cast iron pan can affect iron levels in foods. It turns out that the amount of iron that can enter food is quite large. For example, scrambled eggs cooked in a cast iron skillet contains about 2 milligrams of iron more than an egg cooked in a regular skillet. It appears that iron levels in even pancakes can be increased from 0.81 milligrams to 1.31 milligrams, but cast iron pans don’t seem to raise iron levels in all foods. Plus, it’s a non-heme form of iron, which means you can absorb less iron compared to heme iron from red meat. but vitamin C and other acids can increase iron absorption.
Caveat: While certain groups of people, such as menstruating and pregnant women, vegans and vegetarians, may benefit from more iron, iron intake for other groups of people can increase rapidly, especially if you cook all of your foods in plaster. frying pan every day. Be careful not to get too much. For healthy adult men , the RDA is 8 milligrams; 18 milligrams for healthy adult women. Too much can be toxic right away and lead to harmful effects such as fever, chills, blue lips and nails, and liver damage.
If you’re cooking in a cast iron skillet, it’s worth noting that longer cooking times, newer skillets (as opposed to old and well seasoned ones ), and liquid foods tend to release more iron into your food. To find out more about overloading cast iron or different ways to increase iron consumption in cast iron pots, head over to the Examine.com article.
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