Questions About Eggshell Calcium Powder

[TreasureVibe]

Hey guys and gals, I have made my own eggshell calcium powder from brown colored eggshells, using the coffee grinder. I boiled them on forehand, and baked them in the oven afterwards for 20 minutes. I have a couple of questions though.

I live in the Netherlands (European Union) and I bought the eggs from a guy who comes by the house every week selling farm products. Now I am not sure what kind of eggs his eggs are. He will come by next week and I will ask him. But do eggs get sprayed with pesticides, or other chemical substances here in the European Union? And in general? And if that is the case, does boiling them remove these chemicals so they cannot be ingested? And did Ray Peat say anything about this concern?

Also, what are the dosages for a European (small) teaspoon for eggshell calcium?

And, what is the best way to take it, and is just putting it in a small amount of water and drinking it a viable option for absorption?

Also, I have contacted a pets webshop for a bio eggshell calcium supplement they sell for pets. They had contacted the manufacturer and they said that their product is made according to certain standards for biological products, the same for human dietary supplements, meaning they are not allowed to use any pesticides or other chemicals in the manufacturing progress. Still, because it is a pet supplement they are not allowed to recommend me it for human consumption. Is a eggshell calcium pet supplement safe and viable to take?

And Ray Peat recommends 2000 mg calcium for hypertension. How much eggshell calcium is recommended then in a regular diet? And is vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 and vitamin A and magnesium recommended to supplement with the calcium?

I hope you can help me out, thanks!!!

 

[HDD]

“2000 mg is about 2 quarts of milk, or we told you about the eggshell, quarter teaspoon three times a day is about 2000 mg or you can do some of both.”

I have never read/heard of any concerns regarding the eggshells having pesticides on them. I wouldn’t think pesticides would be used near the egg laying hens but I haven’t looked into it. The boiling and baking would destroy any harmful bacteria. I have taken the powder mixed in smoothies, cottage cheese, and yogurt. I think it’s fine to mix it in a liquid.

 

[marikay]

Hi.

I heard on a radio program featuring an interview with Ray that 1/4 teaspoon is around 500mgs of calcium when using eggshell calcium. Anyway that’s the measurement I use when I take eggshell calcium. Like you, I boil them, then bake them, then grind them in a coffee grinder. I just take the 1/4 teaspoon and swallow the calcium and then drink OJ.

During winter months I do take a lot of vitamin D (12,000 ius or more) and a drop or two of K2 a few times a week.

 

[TreasureVibe]

Thanks HDD and Marikay! I know that sometimes a mineral oil is used on the eggs. I guess this gets washed off during the boiling right? Could this mineral oil be harmful? I don't know anything about what it consists of. Eggs don't require any sterilizing with chemicals, right? It would be understandable for the insides of the egg but you can't reach that from the outside.. I just want to be on the safe side with this eggshell calcium! Also do you trust eggshell calcium for pets?

 

[ecstatichamster]

It’s the best form of calcium. If you want, you can use oyster shell calcium which is not quite as good but close. Both eggshell and oyster shell are fairly low in heavy metals, especially eggshell. I don’t think there’s anything else really contaminating them. Especially after you boil them.

 

[TreasureVibe]

It’s the best form of calcium. If you want, you can use oyster shell calcium which is not quite as good but close. Both eggshell and oyster shell are fairly low in heavy metals, especially eggshell. I don’t think there’s anything else really contaminating them. Especially after you boil them.

Thank you ecstatichamster, what do you think of illegal usage of contamination chemicals in chicken hens? There was a big egg scandal in my country early this year where a bunch of egg farms used the illegal insecticide fipronil in the chicken hens for anti-lice measures causing a major withdrawal of eggs in alot of supermarkets and such because of the negative health effects associated with fipronil on humans, like thyroid damage and such. According to the government agency what was mostly contaminated was the insides of the egg. My government gave out the number IDs of the contaminated eggs though, and the eggs I used didn't have them. Still, it makes one be conscious of safety when using eggshells for food. The fact that the contamination went under the radar is frightful.

I guess to be on the safe side you would need an egg source from which you can verify the process. Are your thoughts safe on supermarket eggs?

 

[theLaw]

Peat talks about eggshell calcium starting at 15:00:

 

[ecstatichamster]

well I buy really good eggs. Pastured eggs from well known sources, and I am confident they aren't doing these practices. I would probably wash off supermarket eggs but again, boiling and then baking in the oven probably gets rid of most such contaminants. Analysis shows eggshell has the lowest amount of heavy metals at least.

 

[squanch]

Eggshells are ~ 40% elemental calcium.
So 400 mg per gram of eggshells.

1 teaspoon eggshell powder is roughly 2500 mg with 1000 mg of that being elemental calcium. It really depends on the fineness of the eggshell powder though, I would buy some scales to figure out how much exactly you are getting from your powder.

I have been using the stuff for pets for a while now. It's exactly the same process, they wash and boil the shells and then grind it into a very fine powder. I could never get it this fine at home in my blender, that's why I started using the pet stuff.

 

[TreasureVibe]

Thanks for the video of Ray Peat! Didn't hear this before.

well I buy really good eggs. Pastured eggs from well known sources, and I am confident they aren't doing these practices. I would probably wash off supermarket eggs but again, boiling and then baking in the oven probably gets rid of most such contaminants. Analysis shows eggshell has the lowest amount of heavy metals at least.

Thank you. Well I got bad news for myself then because the government agency said that the contaminated eggs cannot be cooked or washed in order to get rid of the fipronil content. So I just have to trust the government inspection and the egg farm but I will ask the egg salesman from which I got the eggs first hand the next time I see him about it. Still I have questions how fipronil got in the eggs, which I can't find answered on Google. The stables where the chicken reside were completely sprayed on, But I am not sure if the stables are also the location where the eggs are laid, held and taken. And then still, I imagine that probably the contaminant got in the egg through the chicken..

I guess there is one option, ask the chicken farm!

Eggshells are ~ 40% elemental calcium.
So 400 mg per gram of eggshells.

1 teaspoon eggshell powder is roughly 2500 mg with 1000 mg of that being elemental calcium. It really depends on the fineness of the eggshell powder though, I would buy some scales to figure out how much exactly you are getting from your powder.

I have been using the stuff for pets for a while now. It's exactly the same process, they wash and boil the shells and then grind it into a very fine powder. I could never get it this fine at home in my blender, that's why I started using the pet stuff.

Thank you, does the eggshell powder for pets smell and taste the same as eggshell powder from eggs? Nothing extraordinary about it?

 

[squanch]

Thank you, does the eggshell powder for pets smell and taste the same as eggshell powder from eggs? Nothing extraordinary about it?

No, nothing weird. They really just take the (organic) eggshells, clean them and grind them into a powder. 100% eggshells, nothing else in it.

 

[TreasureVibe]

No, nothing weird. They really just take the (organic) eggshells, clean them and grind them into a powder. 100% eggshells, nothing else in it.

Thanks I might buy a brand.. About the home made eggshells, does this concerns you? Mineral oil on eggs - Live Toxic Free the mineral oil some eggs are treated with, are petroleum based. Even organic eggs sometimes have this! Does this raise concern with anyone? Does the boiling in water get rid of this?

 

[squanch]

Thanks I might buy a brand.. About the home made eggshells, does this concerns you? Mineral oil on eggs - Live Toxic Free the mineral oil some eggs are treated with, are petroleum based. Even organic eggs sometimes have this! Does this raise concern with anyone? Does the boiling in water get rid of this?

That's only an American thing as far as I know. They wash the eggs before they are sold, this removes the natural protective layer. That's why they have to refrigerate their eggs and apparently also sometimes put some kind of synthetic protective layer back on it.

It's actually illegal to sell washed eggs anywhere in the European Union. I have never heard of anyone spraying eggs with anything here, there really is no point to it if you don't wash the egg and leave the natural protective layer intact.

Here's the EU egg law thing if you're interested:
EUR-Lex - 32008R0589 - EN - EUR-Lex

 

[TreasureVibe]

That's only an American thing as far as I know. They wash the eggs before they are sold, this removes the natural protective layer. That's why they have to refrigerate their eggs and apparently also sometimes put some kind of synthetic protective layer back on it.

It's actually illegal to sell washed eggs anywhere in the European Union. I have never heard of anyone spraying eggs with anything here, there really is no point to it if you don't wash the egg and leave the natural protective layer intact.

Here's the EU egg law thing if you're interested:
EUR-Lex - 32008R0589 - EN - EUR-Lex

Thank you! I couldn't find it in the EU law website, but is there a law that prohibits the use of a mineral oil or anything alike? Would it make sense to apply it on an unwashed egg at all?

The best wishes for 2018 to you and everyone else!

 

[squanch]

Thank you! I couldn't find it in the EU law website, but is there a law that prohibits the use of a mineral oil or anything alike? Would it make sense to apply it on an unwashed egg at all?

The best wishes for 2018 to you and everyone else!

I couldn't find anything specifically about mineral oil either unfortunately. But yeah, there really is no point in applying it to unwashed eggs. That's just unnecessary extra costs for the farmer, why would anyone do that? But you could just ask your egg guy or the manufacturer of the pet eggshell powder if you want to be 100% sure.

Happy New Year

 

[TreasureVibe]

Thanks for the reply! I have bought some eggs from the supermarket and sent the manufacturer an e-mail asking for the details of how they're processed. Meanwhile I am still waiting for the egg guy to visit again, and also have ordered some pet eggshell calcium powder.

I have another question though. I am inquiring here for my mother who is 56 years old currently. What is the best way for her to take the eggshell calcium powder, also in regards to stomach acid? Since calcium carbonate is alkaline and water is too, I thought just taking it dissolved in water isn't good for absorption but I might be wrong. What do you advice, and what does Ray Peat have to say about this?

Thanks!

 

[LucH]

Eggshells are ~ 40% elemental calcium.
So 400 mg per gram of eggshells.

Eggsshell membrane compo
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4436844/
Eggshell membrane is composed of 95 % mineral. 37 % of total weight is calcium, mainly carbonate (93.6 %).

So 500 mg eggshell Nem will bring 175.75 mg Ca element of which 55.95 gr is bioavailable (11 %).
Extract:
The essential part of eggshell is represented by mineral with 95.1%, proteins (3.3%) and water (1.6%) of the constituents. With 37.3% of the total weight, calcium is the main mineral component (the mostly in crystalline form existing calcium is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) with 93.6% followed by calcium triphosphate (0.8%) and magnesium carbonate).

 

[TreasureVibe]

Eggsshell membrane compo
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4436844/
Eggshell membrane is composed of 95 % mineral. 37 % of total weight is calcium, mainly carbonate (93.6 %).

So 500 mg eggshell Nem will bring 175.75 mg Ca element of which 55.95 gr is bioavailable (11 %).
Extract:
The essential part of eggshell is represented by mineral with 95.1%, proteins (3.3%) and water (1.6%) of the constituents. With 37.3% of the total weight, calcium is the main mineral component (the mostly in crystalline form existing calcium is calcium carbonate (CaCO3) with 93.6% followed by calcium triphosphate (0.8%) and magnesium carbonate).

But doesn't this mean that if we get 1000mg of eggshell calcium, we only get approx. 100mg of bioavailable calcium in our system? Is the Ray Peat recommendation of 2000mg ment to be bioavailable calcium or just total from the diet?

 

[TreasureVibe]

Anyone?

 

[LucH]

Is the Ray Peat recommendation of 2000mg ment to be bioavailable calcium or just total from the diet?

When we "hear" 800 to 1200 mg Daily Allowance, it means C complex, even if it's only 30 % bioavailable.
Milk Ca is 32 % bioavailable. Brocoli 65 %. But we need anideal phosphate ratio ... With milk, it's ok if you digest it well (...)