Can I increase my iron intake by eating food cooked with cast iron?
Can I eat food cooked in cast iron to leach iron into the food? Is it a significant amount?
Best Answer
Can you get leached iron from cast iron? Yes
Is it consistent in the amount that you get? No
Is it dependent on the food in the pan? Yes
How much? It varies hugely dependent on the food. More liquid, acidic foods leach more. How long its in the pan also plays a role. 3 oz of spaghetti sauce could leach as much as 5mg - that's almost 1/3 of the daily recommended 18mg.
So you can cook with cast iron to get more iron, but it will vary wildly on what you cook in it. It will also likely increase/decrease based on how well the pan is or isn't seasoned.
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Quick Answer about "Can I increase my iron intake by eating food cooked with cast iron?"
Cook Foods in Cast-Iron Cookware Using cast-iron cookwareCan cooking with cast iron give you too much iron?
Cast iron releases a few milligrams of iron per cup of food. Acidic foods release about double that amount. To reach the upper limit of about 40-45 mg, you would need to cook a lot with your cast iron skillet. If you have hemochromatosis, cooking too often with cast iron can be dangerous to your health.How much iron does a cast iron pan add to your food?
You'll get best results by cooking moist, acidic foods like applesauce, chili, tomato sauce, stew, and scrambled eggs. As a rough rule of thumb, one cup of these foods will gain about six to eight milligrams of iron after being cooked in cast iron cookware.Does cast iron get better the more you use it?
The entire pan is made of iron, so it doesn't degrade over time. In fact, cast iron skillets actually get better the more you use them. As you do, the oil you use to cook seeps into the pan itself, making the surface less sticky.Is cooking with cast iron healthy?
Cast iron isn't all about frying But its ability to retain heat also lends itself to healthy cooking, says Kerri-Ann Jennings, a Vermont-based registered dietitian and nutrition coach. That includes water-based methods such as braising and poaching as well as quick broiling and grilling, which don't require much oil.Cast Iron Cuisine / Increase Your Iron Intake / Cuisine at Home
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Answer 2
Given rfusca's answer above and Newman's comment, I thought it might be worthwhile to see what medical autorities -- or what passes for such on the internet -- have to say.
"There is real evidence that cooking in cast iron pots increases the amount of iron in the diet. This is usually a very small source of dietary iron."
"Cooking with cast iron pots can add up to 80 percent more iron to your food."
McKinley Health Center says dietary iron can be obtained from:
"A NON-HEME food cooked in an iron pot, such as a cast iron skillet"
Columbia Health gives the most solid information about dietary iron from cast iron cookware, also containing the only reference to an actual study on the topic. It also reinforces rfusca's answer that it depends strongly on the type of food and how it's cooked.
So, the answer appears to be yes, you can get dietary iron from cast iron pots, and it's a significant amount. Not that that gets you out of needing to eat a nutritionally balanced diet.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Sebastian Coman Photography, Clem Onojeghuo, Engin Akyurt, bam awey