[klodolph]

Your body can absorb metallic iron, because it will react in your stomach and change to Fe2+, which you can absorb just fine. For a different type of experiment, you can try mashing Special K in a mortar and pestle and use a magnet to extract the iron. This is fine, because your body can actually absorb this!

It’s also misinformation that your body won’t absorb iron because of calcium intake, it’s just that calcium inhibits iron absorption somewhat, and only short-term, it doesn’t stop it completely. It’s not that well understood.

[vanderZwan]

Any source on that? I'm just basing my statements on what the GP who was consulted in the linked episode stated, and while she's not exactly a specialist on the subject she does know a little bit more about nutrition than the average person on the street.

> [mineral iron] it will react in your stomach and change to Fe2+

Wouldnd't the presence of an acid-neutralizing ingredient like milk negatively affect this process?

> it’s just that calcium inhibits iron absorption somewhat, and only short-term, it doesn’t stop it completely.

Could you be a bit more precise when you say "short-term"? If it basically reduces absorption for the current meal the point of it defeating iron absorbtion is still valid.

[klodolph]

> Any source on that?

Personal correspondence with a nutrition PhD. Not going to identify for unrelated reasons.

> Wouldnd't the presence of an acid-neutralizing ingredient like milk negatively affect this process?

Milk is acidic in the first place. In either case, it doesn’t raise the pH of your stomach very much.

> Could you be a bit more precise when you say "short-term"?

Short enough that the effect is gone before you finish digesting the meal.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/21462112/

From what I gather, there were some studies that claimed that calcium interferes with iron absorption, and it’s clear that it does, but it might not have much of an effect on nutrition.

[vanderZwan]

Thanks, appreciate the follow-up!