Praxis: Eating, not pumping, iron for breakfast

By Patty Rooks on May 25, 2019.

praxis@praxismh.ca@PraxisMedHat

I don’t know about you, but breakfast time is a bit of a slow time for me in the morning. It appears that my brain really needs some time to warm up as I start my day! A typical activity is to read whatever is on the table and this morning it was the cereal box. It is amazing what those tiny little pieces of breakfast goodness contain; nutrition wise that is. One thing that amazed me was iron. But how can that be? I thought nails were made out of iron – we eat iron? I am not sure this is true. Do you think we might be able to separate this out somehow in order to prove this? Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– strong magnet (preferably a neodymium bar magnet or a “cow” magnet)

– water

– measuring cups

– medium clear zipper baggie

– cereal (probably a flake type that is high in iron)

Procedure

1. Measure and pour 250 mL (one cup) of cereal into the zipper baggie.

2. Zip the bag closed and GENTLY crush the cereal to make a fine powder.

3. Add 500 mL (two cups) of water to the baggie of cereal.

4. Zip the bag closed.

5. Gently shake the baggie to combine the water with the crushed cereal.

6. Place the baggie on a sturdy flat surface.

7. Gently rub the magnet along the outside of the bag.

8. Observe where the magnet is touching the baggie.

9. What do you see?

What is going on?

Depending on the kind of cereal you are testing, you should have at least a FEW flakes of iron attracted to the magnet through the zipper baggie. It will look like a black powdery substance. Did you know that most breakfast cereals made today are fortified with vitamins and minerals? Cereals in particular have a food grade iron particles added as a mineral supplement. Don’t worry, in these tiny amounts it will not harm you at all. Metallic iron is easily digested in the stomach and absorbed by your small intestine. We also get iron from other food sources as well in order to maintain a healthy body.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) of iron. The chemical symbol for iron is Fe. Metallic iron is digested in the stomach and eventually absorbed in the small intestine. If all of the iron from your body was extracted, you’d have enough iron to make only two small nails.

Patty Rooks is senior scientific consultant at PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community.” Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook.

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