Your parents encourage you to eat iron-rich foods like spinach, lentils and dry fruits. Some of you might have been advised by doctors to take iron tablets for iron deficiency. But why do we need iron in our diet? Iron is an integral part of many proteins and enzymes that maintain good health in human beings and animals. So, all of us are iron boys and iron girls in this way!
Iron is one of the most abundant metals on Earth. This element is essential for plant and animal life. Plants need iron for the formation of chlorophyll, and for respiration. If a person’s blood does not have enough iron in it, he or she will become tired easily and suffer from frequent headaches. In fact, iron is vital for the production of haemoglobin, which gives blood its red hue.
Though it was known that iron has medicinal properties right from ancient times, the presence of iron in human blood was not discovered until the 19th century.
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