My mom and grandmother wouldn’t have known what to do without their cast iron pans and pots. Interestingly, it turns out there are health benefits to using cast iron for cooking:

1. You can cook with less oil when you use a cast-iron pan. That sheen on cast-iron cookware is the sign of a well-seasoned pan, which renders it virtually nonstick. The health bonus, of course, is that you won’t need to use gads of oil to brown crispy potatoes or sear chicken when cooking in cast-iron.

2. Cast iron is a chemical-free alternative to nonstick pans. Another benefit to using cast-iron pans in place of nonstick pans is that you avoid the harmful chemicals that are found in nonstick pans. The repellent coating that keeps food from sticking to nonstick pots and pans contains PFCs (perfluorocarbons), a chemical that’s linked to liver damage, cancer and developmental problems.

3. Cooking with cast iron fortifies your food with iron. While cast iron doesn’t leach chemicals, it can leach some iron into your food…and that’s a good thing. Iron deficiency is fairly common worldwide, especially among women. In fact, 10% of American women are iron-deficient. Cooking food, especially something acidic like tomato sauce in a cast-iron skillet can increase iron content, by as much as 20 times.

Click here for more information the above; the story also includes a link to healthy recipes for cast iron.