Not so 'potty' solutions to iron problems

Cooking with iron pots could play a significant role in preventing iron deficiency, a major nutritional problem in the developing world, according to a recent study by scientists in the United States. Researchers from Cornell University and the US Agricultural Research Service compared the bioavailability of iron in Chinese cabbage meals cooked in pots made of iron and aluminium.

The study was conducted by graduate student Shumei Yun and epidemiologist Jean-Pierre Habicht at Cornell University's division of Nutritional Sciences.

They cooked three Chinese cabbage dishes - fresh Chinese cabbage, fresh Chinese cabbage with vinegar, and fermented Chinese cabbage (sauerkraut) - identically in iron and aluminum pots, following a common recipe from northwest China.

They concluded that in each case, cabbage dishes cooked in iron pots had more available iron than those cooked in aluminium ones.

The researchers report that the type of food being cooked also seemed to affect the pots' iron. Vinegar or acidic foods such as sauerkraut appeared to leach more iron from the pots, making more iron available for absorption.

To measure the bioavailable iron, the researchers used the ARS lab's "fake gut." Coupling simulated digestion with a human intestinal cell line, the system accurately models in the laboratory what occurs in the human intestinal tract. Raymond Glahn, the ARS physiologist who designed the model system, was a collaborator in this study.

The researchers used recipes from northwestern China that showed significantly lower rates of iron deficiency in resource-poor regions there, in comparison to similar regions elsewhere in the country. Plant-based diets that include lots of rice vinegar and sauerkraut cooked in iron pots are common in the region.

Iron deficiency anaemia is associated with reduced capacity for physical labour and can lead to illness and death.

The ARS is the US Department of Agriculture's​ chief scientific research agency.