Despite the fact there is more calcium in the egg shell than there is in the yolk and white. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? After all, the egg shell is harder — an indication of the calcium content. It is between 94 and 97 per cent calcium carbonate. In reality, this is “non living” calcium. The calcium in the shell is merely mineralised calcium. Indeed, if you analyse it, the egg shell is largely calcium carbonate. An important study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in May 2007 strongly suggests that calcium from food sources (called “food state” calcium) such as egg yolk may be far more effective than calcium from egg shell. The study concluded that women who get most of their daily calcium from food sources have healthier bones and greater bone density, even though those who took more supplements tend to have higher average levels of calcium.
Effective Dose Researchers asked 183 postmenopausal women to document their diet over a week. After this, their bone mineral density and oestrogen were tested. Women who got at least 70 per cent of their daily calcium from food state sources instead of supplements took in the least calcium (830 milligrams per day, on average), but had higher spine and hip bone density than women consuming 1,030 milligrammes of calcium per day, primarily from supplement sources.
Women, who got calcium in relatively even amounts from both food and supplemental sources had both the highest bone mineral density and the highest calcium intake (1,620 milligrams per day).
Calcium from dietary sources is usually more completely absorbed than calcium from supplements, which could explain the difference. Women who got getting calcium from foods also had higher oestrogen levels. Oestrogen is needed to maintain bone mineral density.
Those who got calcium from food sources might have also taken in more vitamin D as food state calcium always comes “locked” with this vitamin. Vitamin D aids in calcium absorption.
Quality Calcium As often happens when it comes to food, quality is more important than quantity. Even though the women taking supplements had higher average levels of calcium, those who got their calcium from food had stronger bones. What grandma knew is now proven by science: calcium from food is better absorbed and used by your body than synthetic calcium from a pill.
Intuitively, we know food state calcium is better than “non living” calcium. That is why we never eat the egg shell. The best source of calcium is from milk and other dairy products. Milk Problems However, as we grow older milk often becomes problematic due to: l Lactose Lactose is a sugar that is found most notably in milk. It makes milk “sweet” to the tongue. Lactose makes up around two to eight per cent of milk by weight although the amount varies among species and individuals.
As babies, we were adept at digesting it as we produced plentiful amounts of lactase — any enzyme that makes digestion of lactose into simpler sugars such as glucose and galactose possible. However, as we age, our production of lactase drops to almost zero, making digestion of lactose difficult up to a point that many become lactose intolerant. l Fat and undue calories Milk is rich in fats including saturated fat which includes butter. So many people now drink skimmed milk as a way of avoiding this fat. l Allergies Milk allergy is a food allergy, an adverse immune reaction to one or more of the proteins in cow’s milk or the milk of other animals — proteins that are normally harmless to the non-allergic individual. In the worst case scenario, milk allergy can cause anaphylaxis, a potentially life-threatening condition. This allergy is a separate and distinct condition from lactose intolerance. Milk Minerals Dutch scientists have been able to extract milk minerals by ultra filtering all the other parts of milk — fats, sugars and proteins. What is left over is milk minerals — possibly the best part of milk — as far as bone building is concerned. Milk minerals have the ratio of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus in ratios almost identical to that of living bone. Indeed, all calcium found in living systems — bones, flesh, milk, plants and eggs — is in this similar ratio.
Milk minerals are also rich in trace amounts of boron and other rare minerals vital to bone formation and growth. Milk minerals have trace levels of natural vitamin D and K that we now know are vital to the bone formation process. “Liquid Bone” Milk is sometimes called “liquid bone” in nutritional circles. A major Swiss study by J.P Bonjour that was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Volume 99, Number 6, March 1997 showed that supplementation with milk minerals enriched foods, enhanced bone mass and growth in pre-pubertal girls by an average of 38 per cent. Most calcium supplements are just “non living” minerals such as calcium carbonate which is the chemical name for chalk. The balance of magnesium and phosphorus is missing. Rare minerals such as boron are missing too. Of course, supplements with various calcium salts are normally enriched vitamin D to enhance absorption. Synthetic calcium are easy and cheap to make as calcium is the fifth most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust normally found as calcium carbonate (limestone), oxide, chloride and hydroxide. Milk minerals have become available in Malaysian pharmacies as an easy-to-take tablet. Ask your pharmacist for food state calcium from the best known source of calcium — the one that built our bones — milk.
http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/Health_Whyyounevereattheeggshell/Article/#ixzz15TePXL4T
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