The actual amount of iron in the human system is not very great, but what it does is almost fantastic!
There are normally around 5000000 red blood cells in a drop of blood no longer than the head of a pin. These tiny cells are rounded on the edges and hollow in middle, something like a disk or a plate. This provides relatively large surface compared with the volume of the cell, making for an easier exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Each red blood cell contains 250, 000, 00 molecules of hemoglobin and 1000,000,000 atoms of iron. In the few seconds during which the tiny red cell is passing through the lung, at the same time it drops 1000, 000, 000, molecules of carbon dioxide which it has brought in from the tissue of the body. This unwanted carbon dioxide is then removed from the body as we exhale.
Most cells in the body live for many years, perhaps even for life .Not so the red blood cells. They last only about four months and then are destroyed. New cells must constantly be produced in large number to replace those destroyed. Each tiny red cell carries its own little portion of iron which the body measures out with such exactness that each cell has just enough iron for work it has to do and no more
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From: – You’re guide to health by Clifford R. Anderson