How cooking with an iron fish is saving lives in Cambodia

[geovalin]

Some six million Cambodians – almost half the country’s population – suffer from iron deficiency, which can cause anaemia.

While it’s a serious condition, it’s one which is relatively easy to solve, simply get more iron in your diet.

However in a developing nation such as Cambodia that’s easier said than done. So a Canadian scientist has come up with a cheap way of increasing iron levels nation-wide.

It’s called the Lucky Iron Fish and Christopher Charles, its creator, says by simply tossing the fish in the pot of water you use in your daily cooking will provide 75 per cent of an adult’s necessary daily iron, and even more for a child.

Using the fish is simple – clean the fish, put it in the pot of boiling water you’re going to use to cook a soup or broth-based dish, remove the fish after 10 minutes, add your ingredients and cook your meal, and then before eating give your meal a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to assist in digesting the iron.

The secret – as you may have guessed – is that the Lucky Iron Fish is made of iron itself, and since cooking with iron pots and pans can increase iron levels, Dr Charles figured a piece of iron being used in the cooking process would have a similar outcome.

He wasn’t wrong – according to the Lucky Iron Fish website, “After just 9 months of using the Lucky Iron Fish every day, we saw a 50 per cent decrease in the incidence of clinical iron deficiency anaemia, and an increase in users’ iron levels.”

And they aren’t sacrificing the environment for the sake of human health. Each fish is created by locals, using recyclable materials. Furthermore, the packaging is handmade from palm leaves, by a company which provides work to disabled Cambodians.

As for why it’s a Lucky Iron Fish – rather than say a pig or cow – fish are a symbol of luck in Cambodia.

However the plan for the fish is far larger than one nation. Inadequate iron is the most common dietary issue in the world, and Lucky Iron Fish have plans to help battle the issue on a planet-wide scale.

If you find yourself suffering from tiredness, you can score yourself a Lucky Iron Fish for $US25, and each fish you buy will see another donated to a family in Cambodia.

However, it’s worth noting that anaemia is not exclusively the result of a lack of iron in your diet, there are a number of other potential issues, so if you are having anaemic symptoms don’t just order the Fish, see your doctor.

JOE FROST

About the Author

Joe was Junior Vice-President at Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net until it was bought out by Bill Gates. He now subedits for Conversant Media and considers it a step up.

http://www.techly.com.au/2015/05/19/cooking-iron-fish-saving-lives-cambodia/

[Iamemjay]

Great story, and fantastic idea, but $25 for a small lump of precast iron? Methinks he's not just doing this out of pure altruism!

[zeichen]

I do wonder how much of the iron actually gets absorbed by the body. Iron enriched foods is nothing more than iron shavings in the food. If you take a magnet to campbells soups that say Iron enriched, the magnet will collect the iron shavings. Most medical reports that I have read made it quite clear that this doesn't get absorbed in your body or aid with iron deficiencies.

[zeichen]

I have heard of stone soup but this is taking it a step further.

[arunsakda]

I do wonder how much of the iron actually gets absorbed by the body. Iron enriched foods is nothing more than iron shavings in the food. If you take a magnet to campbells soups that say Iron enriched, the magnet will collect the iron shavings. Most medical reports that I have read made it quite clear that this doesn't get absorbed in your body or aid with iron deficiencies.

These iron fish are a great idea, a nice story also but I am also concerned about the $25 upsell on a 2 cent lump of metal. About enriched iron foods like Campbell soup containing metal shavings visible on a magnet I am afraid you have been reading rubbish medical reports pushed by charlatans and quacksalvers. Unless of course your eyes are good enough to see molecules consisting of iron bound to oxygen. Edited May 19, 2015 by arunsakda