Dissolving Bones For Calcium

Glassy

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Ive never been a big fan of taking calcium supplements and I have a big bag of coral calcium from an experiment in making my own tooth powder (unsuccessfully) a while back. I haven’t been consuming it. I ground up an egg shell today and I’m quite happy about taking that as a supplement but it got me thinking about what happened to it once it was in my stomach. I’m guessing that it would most likely react with my stomach acid and form some sort of salt (CaCl probably).

I make bone broth regularly for the gelatine and have been doing so for a while. I know that if I add vinegar early on and cook the bones for 36+ hrs most of the bones become quite fragile leaving only a honey comb shell of their once strong structure. I don’t usually cook them that long because I believe that it destroys some of the gelatine (or at least stops it from setting as well). When I think about it, the vinegar and cooking is probably dissolving a lot of the calcium in the bones which is left in the broth and consumed. Am I missing something with this? It seems like this would be a pretty good source of calcium and the vinegar leaves negligible flavour or acidity in the broth (I assume it’s nuetralised). I add plenty of powdered gelatine in at the end so I’m not worried about losing the gelatine (I figure it’s mostly still there just in a different form).

Interested to hear your thoughts on dissolving bone as a “food” based calcium source
 

raypeatclips

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Sounds like a bad idea. Peat advises not to cook oxtail for too long before things start leeching out of the bones like metals and probably other things you don't want to consume. Why not just eat milk/cheese/yoghurt/greens before trying to dissolve bones?
 

paymanz

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Yes agree with raypeatclips, also egg shells are good source,if prepared correctly.
 

cyclops

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Calcium carbonate is a good supplement.
 
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Hazarlar

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I have been eating chicken bones and bone marrow that way since childhood. Not the whole bones though, but tip of the bones, basically joints. Chicken necks are also getting soft(er) after cooking them for 4 hours.

I like the very idea of - "eat organs to heal organs ... eat bones to heal bones"
 

fradon

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Ive never been a big fan of taking calcium supplements and I have a big bag of coral calcium from an experiment in making my own tooth powder (unsuccessfully) a while back. I haven’t been consuming it. I ground up an egg shell today and I’m quite happy about taking that as a supplement but it got me thinking about what happened to it once it was in my stomach. I’m guessing that it would most likely react with my stomach acid and form some sort of salt (CaCl probably).

I make bone broth regularly for the gelatine and have been doing so for a while. I know that if I add vinegar early on and cook the bones for 36+ hrs most of the bones become quite fragile leaving only a honey comb shell of their once strong structure. I don’t usually cook them that long because I believe that it destroys some of the gelatine (or at least stops it from setting as well). When I think about it, the vinegar and cooking is probably dissolving a lot of the calcium in the bones which is left in the broth and consumed. Am I missing something with this? It seems like this would be a pretty good source of calcium and the vinegar leaves negligible flavour or acidity in the broth (I assume it’s nuetralised). I add plenty of powdered gelatine in at the end so I’m not worried about losing the gelatine (I figure it’s mostly still there just in a different form).

Interested to hear your thoughts on dissolving bone as a “food” based calcium source

i used to do this with chicken bones but stopped when i heard they contain lead. egg shell is calcium carbonate which does not have a high absobablity compared to calcium citrate and some others. then there is the whole organic and inorganic calcium where the idea is getting calcium from foods like vegetables is better becasue they are in a more bio available form compared to just eating a stick of chalk or a calcium pill.

i read that beef bones were better for calcium cause they have less heavy metals. mineral water could be a good source of calcium like san pallegrino.
 
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Glassy

Glassy

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Calcium carbonate reacts with your stomach acid to form calcium chloride. If you cover egg shells in lemon juice you get calcium citrate and I’m guissing if you disolve the egg shells in vinegar you will get calcium acetate. All seem to be bio available. I used to take a lot of ant-acids in my mid 20s because I used to get heart burn all the time. I discovered they were making things worse and eventually fixed the issue without ant-acids and haven’t taken any since (I don’t want to be taking what is essentially ant-acids/tums in the form of calcium carbonate).

The contamination of animal bone sources with lead and other heavy metals is probably a good enough reason not to cook my bone broth for extended periods and certainly I won’t be adding vinegar. I enjoy bone broth and think it’s a great source of nutrients however and will continue to make it. I always felt a little strange seeing how much of the bone was dissolving in broth cooked for a long time with vinegar but also thought that it might be beneficial. It seems bone is also a pretty good source of phosphorus, which I already get plenty of (unfortunately). I have learned to trust these feelings I get, which is why I was asking the question.

I guess any source of calcium has the potential to be contaminated (egg shells included) so I’m not sure what the best source of calcium carbonate would be to dissolve. Until then I guess I’ll keep chugging my 2% milk (i used to eat a lot of cottage cheese but they all seem to have vegetable gums *sigh).
 
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cyclops

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I guess any source of calcium has the potential to be contaminated (egg shells included) so I’m not sure what the best source of calcium carbonate would be to dissolve.

I just buy pure calcium carbonate online as I heard Peat say that is what eggshell calcium is. What is the downside of that?
 
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Glassy

Glassy

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I just buy pure calcium carbonate online as I heard Peat say that is what eggshell calcium is. What is the downside of that?

Most calcium is concentrated by an organic life form and these life forms (chickens, cows, coral, shell fish, etc) are subject to the same environment we are. I’m sure there’s probably more heavy metals in the air and water than there were in past millennia (when mined deposits were formed) but there’s also potential contamination from extraction and refinement. I’m not saying your source is contaminated and I doubt it’s something to worry about too much.

I personally wouldn’t take calcium carbonate without first turning it into a salt (reacting it with an acid). But that’s got more to do with me wanting keeping my stomach naturally acidic as much as possible.
 

cyclops

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Most calcium is concentrated by an organic life form and these life forms (chickens, cows, coral, shell fish, etc) are subject to the same environment we are. I’m sure there’s probably more heavy metals in the air and water than there were in past millennia (when mined deposits were formed) but there’s also potential contamination from extraction and refinement. I’m not saying your source is contaminated and I doubt it’s something to worry about too much.

I personally wouldn’t take calcium carbonate without first turning it into a salt (reacting it with an acid). But that’s got more to do with me wanting keeping my stomach naturally acidic as much as possible.

Thanks. So I gather you think eggshell calcium is superior to a refined calcium carbonate product. And if you took eggshell calcium, you'd mix it with lemon juice first? Could you tell me how you do that?
 
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Glassy

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Thanks. So I gather you think eggshell calcium is superior to a refined calcium carbonate product. And if you took eggshell calcium, you'd mix it with lemon juice first? Could you tell me how you do that?
Nah - I’d say they’re equally safe (depending on your source of either).

Just pour some lemon/lime juice over your calcium source and let it do it’s thing overnight and then mix the juice and precipitate and have a small teaspoon around meals. A teaspoon of liquid should be plenty depending on how much calcium you added.

You would want to get an approximately pH neutral solution (not too acidic - egg shells take longer to react than Ca CO3 powder).

This page has some instructions that are more explicit: How to make the best calcium supplement at home
 

cyclops

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Nah - I’d say they’re equally safe (depending on your source of either).

Just pour some lemon/lime juice over your calcium source and let it do it’s thing overnight and then mix the juice and precipitate and have a small teaspoon around meals. A teaspoon of liquid should be plenty depending on how much calcium you added.

Could you just take the amount of calcium carbonate you want to take (say 1/2 teaspoon) and mix with a little lemon juice in a glass, stir it and take it? Or is it important to let it sit over night?
 
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Glassy

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Could you just take the amount of calcium carbonate you want to take (say 1/2 teaspoon) and mix with a little lemon juice in a glass, stir it and take it? Or is it important to let it sit over night?

If you’re using calcium carbonate powder the reaction is quite quick (lots of bubbling and frothing). The CO2 released isn’t very pleasant to smell but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t drink it straight away. Calcium citrate is not very soluble in water so most will precipitate as a fine powder that will settle at the bottom of your glass.

I’m certainly no expert on this though mate. I just believe that most issues people have with stomach reflux is caused by low stomach acid. I want to increase my calcium now that I have a good vitamin K source and don’t want to neutralise my stomach acid in my stomach.
 

cyclops

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If you’re using calcium carbonate powder the reaction is quite quick (lots of bubbling and frothing). The CO2 released isn’t very pleasant to smell but I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t drink it straight away. Calcium citrate is not very soluble in water so most will precipitate as a fine powder that will settle at the bottom of your glass.

I’m certainly no expert on this though mate. I just believe that most issues people have with stomach reflux is caused by low stomach acid. I want to increase my calcium now that I have a good vitamin K source and don’t want to neutralise my stomach acid in my stomach.

This is what I've been doing and I don't mind the smell at all; it does react quickly as you said. I understand your reasons for doing it and appreciate you sharing your thoughts.
 

Travis

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I often add a dash calcium phosphate powder to a pineapple smoothie, both the raise the pH and add a few milligrams of calcium. I think one-half of an eggshell might dissolve in one pineapple. But I always try to make sure such a thing is done before straining something acidic through a steel colander—to partially neutralize the acid—as otherwise you could get problematic Fe³⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions dissolving into the food/drink. I don't really mind the blender blade so much, as this appears to be a high quality carbon steel—probably a bit more acid resistant and having a lower nickel content.
 

Travis

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Dissolving bones for calcium...Hmm...You know, I think Jeffrey Dahmer could give us a few pointers on this topic (but I think he was a fan of using perchloric acid to do this, but something unfortunately not likely to be stocked by your average corner grocery store.)
 
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Glassy

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