Remember those guys who publish a lot of medical information from the right sources, but occasionally make mistakes with the translation? I've been revising their articles here. There, it turns out, there are many more interesting things.
The story about the molluscs, which are rich in iron, acquires new details. The guys write that mollusks contain not only a lot of iron, but it is also heme. That is, of animal origin, and therefore it is absorbed 15 - 30% better than from plant foods.
Then I thought that heme iron is usually associated with the exchange of hemoglobin or myoglobin. We've already discussed myoglobin in our muscles.
So, as far as I remember, there is no hemoglobin in oysters and other shellfish. They have copper-based blue blood there.
Shellfish do contain iron and a lot of zinc. This is a really good source of zinc.
But there is usually no hemoglobin in mollusks. So that same mollusc heme iron is iron associated with some animal proteins.
It may be absorbed better than ordinary ferrous iron, but how much of this good iron is in shellfish - no one really writes. There are some famous species, in which there is a lot of iron. But on average, there is simply no information.
And shellfish also contain many other wonderful metals like mercury and cadmium. Therefore, pregnant women are prohibited from eating shellfish. In my opinion, shellfish were never particularly considered a source of iron. They can be poisoned.
I read something from American publications around 1931 or something. They then, you see, had a shortage of meat. They said you could eat oysters for iron.
Have you met any recommendations to fill the iron deficiency with oysters?
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