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Iron isn't harmful.

Only with acidic foods

Correct - don't cook say: tomatoes/tomato sauce in them.

Or do. You need some iron in your diet.

You almost certainly get enough in your diet without having to rely on cast-iron cookware. Is the iron that leaches out even particularly bioavailable? When we talk about iron in the diet we're really talking about iron as part a molecule, not just the raw element.

It appears to be a “non-heme” source (some bioavailability, like nuts/greens, but not as much as “heme” sources, like red meat).

Regardless, getting some iron via the cookware doesn’t hurt.

No, you will mess up your cast iron. Cook them in stainless steel.

No, it doesn’t mess up your pan at all. We cook tomato sauces in our cast iron pan all the time and it’s totally fine. Besides, a new pan is like, $12.

How does it effect, say: the taste?

compared to all the other bad stuff out there, some extra iron in your diet is pretty good. Kick that anemia to the curb.