Trivia of the Day (01-17-10)

I will start writing trivia today. These will mostly come from what I learn from Medical School or from other people.

I hope I will not talk in Greek here because they'll usually be medically related.

Here goes my first ever trivium!

Popeye loves spinach and spinach, as we all know, contain lots of iron. But did you know that they also contain oxalates which render the iron content nonabsorbable?

My explanation:
Oxalates chelate them, thus changing the conformation of the ions. The change in conformation will not allow the ions to either be reduced to ferrous form (FeII) or be oxidized to ferric form (FeIII). In this case, they won't be able to enter the cells, much so the cytochromes for electron transport and heme metabolism.
In any case, spinach are good with bagoong. The problem is, by eating bagoong, you will develop some sort of renal problems (oh gosh, another BIG topic to discuss).