Why is iron important to the human body?
It seems natural for the body to need gases such as Oxygen and hydrogen and chalky minerals like calcium and carbon. But iron and traces of other metals seem oddly out of place, even in our durable bones. However, iron is not only important, it is vital to the body’s chemical processes. The iron in the human body, of course, is not in the form of nuts and bolts. There is enough Of it to make several nails, and the supply is used and stored as small atoms and molecules. More than half of these fragalents are part of hemoglobin m01ecules in the red blood cells. A few float in the blood plasma, and many are strewn throughout the protoplasm of the living cells. Some are saved and stored in the liver, where old red cells are scrapped. But some are lost, and the daily food diet must provide about 15 milligrams of iron to replace them. The body’s iron performs a number of duties in the chemical activities of the living cells. Most of these chores depend upon a natural attraction between iron
