A whole package of Quaker Quick Oats with iron, which are the most iron-rich cereals i could find in a quick search, has about 20mg iron per serving * 13 servings = 290 mg iron. So no, there’s no risk of injury at 4 boxes of cereals per gram of iron. We humans don’t need to replenish iron that much (if we don’t suffer from major blood loss), we are pretty good at internal recycling.
So, I googled it. Apparently, magnetism involves the interaction between the magnetic field and an unpaired electron. The iron in our blood is bound to the heme molecule, so the magnetism is so low that is nearly undetectable. However, when we have a blood clot, there is an unbound molecule, so blood clots are very weakly magnetic (meaning, you can detect the blood clot with a big enough magnet, like in an MRI).
So the question is, what happens to iron when we digest it? And this is the point where I go “Ok you need an actual scientist to answer this”, because I didn’t study science in school. Apparently, iron starts in an oxidized ferric state (Fe3+) and our body needs to turn it into a ferrous state or bind it to a heme molecule. The + means it is in a positive state, not a neutral state, so, before it is paired, it has an unpaired electron.
But does that mean it’s so strongly magnetic it’s gonna hurt you, or is it weakly magnetic like blood clots? HOW THE FUCK DO I KNOW? How many iron videos do you expect me to watch on a Friday night?
How many iron videos do you expect me to watch on a Friday night?
Just one more video, bro.
But first, let me tell you about today’s sponsors; Factor and SquareSpace…
I don’t think so.
The size of something does affect how much magentic force it can exert.
I know someone who accidentally underwent MRI with their phone still in their pocket. It didn’t go flying across the room or anything, despite containing permanent magnets.
The phone was VERY dead after, but no injury occurred.
It does depend on the machine, I think. More sensitive and powerful MRI machines can have orders of magnitude more powerful fields.
Some continuous glucose monitors are MRI-safe, and they keep working after it. Just adding another data point.
no. somethin about the iron not being crystalline or in a metal state.
I saw this exact scenario play out in a documentary about enhanced humans. There was a guy who was magnetic or something. He called himself The Magnet Guy. He didn’t seem like a nice chap. Even so, he is fabulous.
Is that the one where the guard gets seduced by the lizard lady?
I took 75mg of iron or so 48 hours before an mri and couldn’t feel anything. Not right before, but I take it your body does absorb it fairly quickly and then it becomes fairly non magnetic
Most compounds aren’t magnetic, some but not all alloys are, and there are a few advanced materials that aren’t really metallic but are still magnetic. As a general rule, non-metallic compounds aren’t magnetic, and our bodies can’t absorb most metals in their elemental state.
If you’d had those iron pills in your pocket, there’s a very good chance nothing would have happened. I wouldn’t try this on the sly for the sake of science, though. Those iron supplements would have been some iron compounds and would have as much in common with metallic iron as table salt does with metallic sodium.
No, but if you eat 3-5 bananas before a radiation measuring, you’ll read high exposure.
3-5 hits will do that, too
I mean, surely not, but I’ve seen videos of people blending up cereal and using a magnet to pull out the iron. I’m really curious now
