eli5 is blood iron and metal iron the same? what are the differences
In: Biology
Yes and now.
Both contain iron atoms but in the blood, they are a part of a protein called hemoglobin with lots of other atoms, only 0.3% of the protein is iron.
Metalic iron can be just iron atoms but is more usually in combination with some other metal and carbon. We mostly use steel where the cheap variants are around 97% iron, 1% carbon and the rest is other elements.
You can compare it to rust which is what you get when iron react with oxygen and form a metal oxide. The iron of what rusted in in the rust but the propeties are quite diffrent.
The same chemical element yes, but the iron in your body is mostly part of molecules of hemoglobin and myoglobin.
Comparing that to metallic iron is kind of like comparing the oxygen in water molecules to the oxygen in air.
Your body can absorb metallic iron somewhat. It’s possible to supplement iron in food by [cooking acidic foods in, or with, cast iron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_iron_fish).
However, iron in your body is carried around in a chemical structure called [heme (or haem)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heme). Iron that is already “packaged up” in heme is easier for your body to use than metallic iron. The iron in red meat, and in legumes (beans and peas) is in heme, but most of the iron in spinach is not.
(“Heme” rhymes with “meme”. In your body, it’s found in hemoglobin, myoglobin, and other proteins that carry oxygen.)
The imitation meat in [Impossible Burger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impossible_Foods#Technology_and_food_safety) uses soybean heme proteins, grown in genetically modified yeast cells, as a replacement for the myoglobin heme protein in meat.
It’s the same kind of atom, but inside a different structure. In your body, it’s bonded with a bunch of other elements to form molecules that carry oxygen in your blood. Metal iron is mostly just iron bonded with more iron.
Though metal iron is something our body can absorb and use. Cereals fortified with iron is literally just cereal with [iron shavings added](https://youtube.com/shorts/-AIFj9pnPl8?si=yO7b8kSl-hYbLjgj).
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