Semi-confirmed: Low Dietary Calcium Intake As An Overlooked Factor In Constipation

Amazoniac

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Members that are crafting a beautiful coral reef in the intestines with the aid of eggshells,

Here's a simple study that looked at the association between constipation, elevated PTH and excess calcium in the blood, finding that it's actually the excess calcium that correlates well with constipation:

http://www.europeanreview.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/1163.pdf

"We noted that in patients with serum calcium level > 11.5 mg/dL, C [constipation] was present in 61.5% of the cases vs. 9.5% in subjects with a value of ≤11.5 mg/dL (χ2=15.75; p < 0.001) (Figure 2)."

"In both cases of patients with hyperparathyroidism, it was observed that the average value of the serum calcium level was significantly higher in patients with C as opposed to those without C."

"It has been reported in the literature that also in neoplasia-associated hypercalcemia, the greater the average serum calcium value, the higher the prevalence of C. The symptom can, in fact, have a frequency of 69% for an average level of calcemia over 12 mg/dL 21."

"On the other hand, in PHPT [Primary Hyperparathyroidism] almost all of the metabolic parameters indicating a major severity of the disease (increase in parathyroid hormone, decrease in phosphoremia, increase in serum alkaline phosphatase, increase in 24hr urinary calcium) are associated with an increase in the frequency of C."

"However, in some studies it is documented how parathyroidectomy reduces the level of calcemia and the prevalence of C of about 15% (1,3), reconfirming the fundamental role of calcium in initiating C."

"The results of our study demonstrate that:
The actual prevalence of C in primary PHPT, while high, is not significantly different from that observed in a control population;
A decreasing trend in the predominance of C with respect to past case studies is evident due to the prevalence, in recent years, of asymptomatic and/or “mild” forms of the disease;
The presence of C is correlated with the degree of hypercalcemia and the overall metabolic picture of PHPT; so it may suggest that C is associated with the severity of the disease rather than with the diagnosis of PHPT per se."

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http://www.amjmed.com/article/0002-9343(94)90330-1/

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Serum vitamin D and parathormone (PTH) concentrations as predictors of the development and severity of diabetic retinopathy

An Ancestral Perspective on Vitamin D Status, Part 2: Why Low 25(OH)D Could Indicate a Deficiency of Calcium Instead of Vitamin D - Weston A Price
"If our blood level of calcium drops for any reason — for example, if we aren’t consuming or absorbing enough calcium from our food — our endocrine system quickly launches a systematic program to bring that level back to normal (1). Our parathyroid glands ramp up their production of parathyroid hormone, which sends a signal to our kidneys to ramp up their conversion of 25(OH)D to calcitriol, the most active form of vitamin D. Calcitriol then increases serum calcium in two ways: preventing loss of calcium in the urine and feces, and extracting calcium from bone."
 

Tarmander

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The title made this sound like low calcium was a cause of constipation, which would be really counter intuitive, although interesting. In healthfood stores it's pretty well established that calcium stops you up, while magnesium gets things moving.
 
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Amazoniac

Amazoniac

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The title made this sound like low calcium was a cause of constipation, which would be really counter intuitive, although interesting. In healthfood stores it's pretty well established that calcium stops you up, while magnesium gets things moving.
Chronic insuficient dietary calcium, and other factors that influence PTH or affect calcium metabolism, as discussed here:
Calcium and Disease: Hypertension, organ calcification, & shock, vs. respiratory energy

If I'm not wrong, if you are already in that problematic state, it takes some time to adjust and normalize those levels as you ingest more calcium; during this period the symptoms might get worse..
 

DrJ

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Sorry to revive an old post @Amazoniac, but I thought you would be interested. The way to avoid constipation while taking lots of calcium is to take magnesium in proportion to calcium. At least 0.5g magnesium to each 1g calcium, but it's better to get closer to a 1-to-1 ratio. If you take plenty of calcium, and then take magnesium in balance to it, dropping a deuce becomes about as quick and easy as taking a leak because the calcium soaps formed in the intestine with (saturated) fats and bile acids make everything run more smoothly down there. Although, for this to work the calcium-to-phosphate ratio in the diet has to be above 1 so that you actually have free calcium to form the soap since phosphate binds to calcium making it not so free.
 

jet9

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Can confirm, lately i was getting constipated, carrots, mushrooms, higher fat, lemon water - nothing helped.
Cooked 1/2 half egg's shells and had movement in 1 hour.
 

InChristAlone

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Any electrolyte can cause a bowel movement except maybe potassium. One time I took calcium sulphate and had an epic poop. Same thing would happen with an overdose of sodium or magnesium.
 
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Amazoniac

Amazoniac

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- Latitude, Vitamin D, Melatonin, and Gut Microbiota Act in Concert to Initiate Multiple Sclerosis: A New Mechanistic Pathway

"Gastrointestinal motility involves a complex tightly coordinated series of contractions and relaxations of gastrointestinal smooth muscles, which are essential to maintain the orderly process of digestion. While most muscle cells use free calcium present in the cytosol for this process, gastrointestinal smooth muscle cells (SMCs) use calcium that has been imported from the extracellular fluid through special channels (74). Intestinal muscle cells need to increase and then reduce the concentration of calcium to initiate the contraction and relaxation of the intestinal muscles, respectively (75). This calcium variation is one of the main regulatory factors that affects intestinal motility. This observation led for simultaneous administration of vitamin D and calcium as a therapeutic strategy to stimulate normal intestinal motility in humans (76). In addition to the critical role of vitamin D3 in intestinal calcium absorption and intestinal motility, it may be involved in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal barrier and protecting it against mucosal injury (77)."​
 

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