[Homesteadingfamily] Re: Cookware for prepping

On Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:15:07 -0800 (PST)
Jessica B <usinlove@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Cast Iron is wonderful and sooo cheap you can find good pans
> that no one wants at flea markets and garage sale. It last a
> lifetime, can be used to cook with over a open fire or for
> that matter use it for protection if it was all you had. Jess

It always surprises me that people who are scared to death of
aluminum love cast iron.

There are indications that cast iron may be quite dangerous to
many people. My rule is that if you're not anemic, don't cook
in cast iron.

The problem is that too much iron is not good for you.

In the worst case, there is a condition called iron overloading
that has many bad effects on health. Just to start with, the
amounts of iron present contribute to the growth of many
cancers, viruses, bacteria, and protozoa. And it can affect
the heart by helping to create conduction distubrances in the
heart and promotes the buildup of athlersclerosis.

It has been recognized for a number of years that menstrating
women generally have pretty low rates of heart disease,
considerably lower than men at the same age, but at menopause,
their rates of heart disase catches up and may even surpass
that of men their age.

A very common conjecture by medical doctors that has not been
proven is that these differences in rates of heart disease is
due to iron. Menstrating women lose iron monthly and are often
borderline anemic. They have little stores of iron in the
body. But with menopause, that iron begins to build up.

Like I said, this is conjectural, but it does match what
happens with the higher levels of iron found in iron
overloading.

The result is that I use aluminum cookware but very limited iron
cookware. My only piece of iron cookware is a wok that I only
use on occasion and then without anything acidic that might act
to leach iron into the food. And if I ever find a decent
non-iron wok, my iron wok is likely to become a planter.

Eric