How many licks would it take? Can the iron in bars even be processed by the body? Can you do this for other minerals?

  • tygerprints@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    This is the reason prisoners are so healthy and full of vim and vitality. (right…)

    UMMM I don’t think you can get iron in your diet this way. First off, it’s unlikely you’re going to find a bar of pure iron anyway, since most metal bars are composites of many minerals.

    Also, the iron has to specifically be in an ingestible form so the liver can process it. An iron bar ain’t a lollipop. (maybe that should be a slogan for something).

    When they say that cereal has added iron, they really mean that actual bits of iron are added (very tiny particles). You can use a magnet to pull some of them out, they’re little iron filings.

    So if you file the bar down first and eat the filings, MAYBE it would contribute to your iron intake. But - why not just grab some milk and eat the cereal instead?

    • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Quick Google search suggests that using cast iron cookware increases your iron intake. I’d imagine the heat process has something to do with it though, so still incredulous that licking an iron bar would be effective, though I’m at a very minor maybe.

    • tiredofsametab@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Japan has traditional iron kettles (that are stupidly expensive) and they’re often mentioned by doctors for use in people who have iron deficiency here. That or iron pans. They even make an iron ball to put in normal kettles and such, but that weirds me out a bit.