Joy Adalia
If someone would tell you that there’s this small iron fish that has the capacity to save the lives of thousands of people, would you believe it or would you laugh and take it as a joke?
It sounds absurd, but it is actually true. This small fish is now saving the lives of thousands of Cambodians…and is on its way to saving the rest of the world.
It began with a dream by Canadian Dr. Christopher Charles who wanted to make iron deficiency a thing of the past. He knew that over 2 billion people in the world have iron deficiency anemia. Considering that the entire world population today is at 7.3 billion, that’s a whopping 27.4%. This makes the condition as the most common nutritional problem in the world.
There are plenty of ways to treat iron deficiency anemia, including taking nutritional supplements and eating iron-rich food. However, in many poor places like Cambodia, these are not readily available.
Dr. Charles was dismayed to find out that as many as 50% of the population in Cambodia was affected by this preventable nutritional deficiency. So, he devised a plan to stop this problem from getting worse by creating the iron fish. Dubbed as the “lucky iron fish”, this small item is on its way to saving the lives of these Cambodians.
How does it work? You only have to put the fish in the pot, whether you are just boiling some water or making soup and other dishes.
To best extract the iron from the fish, a little lemon juice is added into the pot (but this step can be skipped if there is no lemon available). Dr. Charles found that the food does not taste any different yet could now provide diners with as much as 75% of their daily iron needs.
After providing 2,500 families with their own iron fish, Dr. Charles reported that half of these families were no longer anemic after a year. With continued use, he believes that the lucky iron fish will soon eradicate anemia in the rest of these families.
He is also working with several non-profit agencies to ensure that more families in Cambodia can be supported in the near future. The little iron fish is also going global and is now available in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Buyers from these countries also have the option to donate more fish for families in Cambodia because every purchase comes in a buy 1, give 1 scheme.
The DailyPedia has been in touch with Dr. Charles and was told that they do not sell the lucky iron fish to the Philippines yet but are working to add the country to their growing list of global customers.
Click here to buy the lucky iron fish.
Watch this video for more information about the lucky iron fish:
