Lucky Iron Fish: Is It Lucky Enough to Overcome Iron Deficiency Anemia?
Would you believe that a fish-shaped object made of iron can overcome blood deficiency? The method is to boil it in boiling water for 10 minutes, add acidity from lemon in any dish. This method considered to provide additional iron content to the food. Check out our findings here!
Lucky Iron Fish is an innovation from 2012 by one of the University doctors in Ontario, Canada. While conducting research in Cambodia, he discovered the problem of iron deficiency anemia in children and pregnant women.
The research idea is to increase the iron content obtained from cooking using cast iron pans. Considering the high price, a simpler, more affordable and durable option was sought. As A result, a small piece of iron is formed. Fish is a symbol of luck in Cambodian culture. So, It is added to cooking to increase the nutritional value of iron in an effort to increase red blood cell levels.
According to several sources, the mechanism for dealing with anemia is the fall out of the iron content of the product when boiled is absorbed in the food to be consumed. It’s assumed that iron will be more easily absorbed in the body due to the presence of vitamin C which comes from lemon juice which is acidic.
Lucky Iron Fish Fact Check
The effectiveness of this product was tested in one village in Cambodia showed an increase in red blood cell levels (Hemoglobin, serum iron levels, and C-reactive protein) in women who regularly used fish iron products compared to those who did not. However, after 6 months red blood cell levels decreased in all women in this study.
The conclusion of that trial was fish iron is good for short-term use (3 months) but does not show a significant effect for long-term use in treating anemia.
Another study on toddlers in a remote village in Tanzania showed an increase in red blood cell hemoglobin levels in 37.8% of toddlers and the products are well received by the public.
The safety of this product is claimed to be safe to use on people who experience iron deficiency anemia.Contaminants were not detected in this iron fish or found in the tolerable level based on WHO. It is also said that boiling one iron fish does not change the perception of color, aroma or taste in the boiled water. However, the result is altered if two or more iron fish are boiled, which causes the boiled water to not taste good and has the possibility of causing poisoning.
Based on the Lucky Iron Fish producer factory, this iron fish can produce 6–8 mg of iron once boiled, which is equivalent to consuming 1 fish or 200 grams (1 portion of beef steak). When compared with the Indonesians Recommended Dietary Intake — or we know it as Angka Kecukupan Gizi — this product could meet the needs of adults in Indonesia of 9 mg for men and 18 mg for women.
To sum up, there are several things to consider when using this product, apart from the various claims of its benefits in treating anemia:
1. The taste of iron fish that’s still there
Dietitian Ella Davar believes that people who have sensitive taste buds will feel the taste of iron from cooking with this product. Moreover, the possibility of iron poisoning will occur if someone has a history of excess iron levels (hemochromatosis).
2. Dependence on the boiling process
To shed the iron content from the product to leech into the food, a boiling process with water is required, which is certainly difficult in countries where access to clean water is still limited. Apart from that, the variety of food is very limited to soupy foods because water is needed in the process of breaking down iron from the product.
3. Has no long-term effects
Research in 2017 on 327 people with moderate anemia tested the effectiveness of fish iron compared to consuming iron supplements (blood supplement tablets).There was no significant difference in hemoglobin levels between research subjects who used fish iron and those who took supplements for 6 or 12 months of use. This is because fish iron cannot treat other vitamin deficiency anemia or anemia caused by diseases such as vitamin B12 deficiency anemia or thalassemia.
4. Uncertainty about iron being successfully absorbed by the body
Quite a lot of iron is lost from fish into the water. However, there is uncertainty about how much the body can absorb, especially in children’s bodies.
5. Not a treatment for all types of anemia
This fish iron may indeed be an innovative and potential solution, but it is not enough to be a substitute for real food, a source of heme protein that can be absorbed by the body, apart from that, this fish iron can only be used to treat iron deficiency anemia, not for other types of anemia. For this reason, it is important to consult a doctor to determine the type of anemia that they have.
In conclusion, Lucky Iron Fish is a promising and innovative product for preventing anemia, especially in areas where people still have limited access to animal foods. However, there are still many things that need to be reviewed, one of which is the long-term effects of the safety of using this fish-shaped iron and also its usefulness in increasing hemoglobin levels in treating anemia for a long time.
