MEDMAN: Question: Calcium Pills And Vinegar

[beforewisdom]

"I read on the internet" that calcium supplements will not do much good unless they get broken down and that this can be tested at home by dropping a calcium pill in a glass of white vinegar. If it is partially dissolved in 20 minutes you have a good pill.

 

Well, my calcium citrate balanced with magnesium and vitamin D-2 didn't even dissolve a little.

 

Is the vinegar test valid or just more urban folklore via the internet?

 

FWIW, a fast search on googles show that it is to buy calcium citrate as powder.

[xjohanx]

Isn't it sort of better to PM Medman instead of creating various topics with questions directed towards him only? I think that's what the PM function is for.

[beforewisdom]

Other people might find his answer useful or interesting.

Edited April 28, 2010 by beforewisdom

[vegimator]

I just bought some calcium and would be interested to know if I should be grinding it up.

[xjohanx]

Other people find his answer useful.

 

You're missing the point.

[beforewisdom]

I just learned some interesting things about this question.

 

I'm not going to type it up all over again, but you can see what I learned on my blog

 

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/?p=1352

[vegimator]

Crazy. Thanks for looking into that.

[Zack]

I just learned some interesting things about this question.

 

I'm not going to type it up all over again, but you can see what I learned on my blog

 

http://beforewisdom.com/blog/?p=1352

 

Copy > Paste

[beforewisdom]

Not when I take the time to do formatting. This site uses BBCode, my site uses HTML

 

Click > Read

[medman]

Hey, it's been crazy at school so I haven't been on as much lately!

 

I'm not sure how empirical the vinegar test is, but it certainly has the right idea behind it. I personally don't think there's any better way to go than chewable calcium tablets, a la Tums. Readily available, inexpensive, guaranteed to be dissolved! Calcium is not particularly helpful if it doesn't get dissolved quite quickly in the stomach...it's absorbed mainly in the duodenum, the first part of your intestine, so the faster it gets into solution, the more is available before it passes the point of absorption in the intestine.

[Vegan Joe]

Personal I've always been opposed to taking Tums like stuff. My bias is not based on any science just speculation. I if ever, very rarely suffer from acid stomach. I just think it's wrong to continue neutralizing your stomach acid like that. I know some people who basically become addicted to these things. I'm more in the camp of learning to regulate your diet if you suffer from symptoms like these, and have some sneaking suspicion that these can be dangerous to your system in time.

 

Anyone care to enlighten me?

[beforewisdom]

You can easily buy calcium citrate as a powder.

 

You can also buy a pill crusher for under $10 in most drugstores or on amazon.com

[xjohanx]

Am I the only one not taking a supplement?

[lobsteriffic]

What about multivitamins with calcium in them - should they dissolve in vinegar too? Would a pill crusher be a good idea for a multi, or just calcium?

 

I just started taking a new brand of multivitamin. My old one turned my pee bright yellow right away. This one doesn't even though it has the same amount of B vitamins. Does that mean it's not working as well? Sorry if that's a stupid question. I switched because I can get the new kind way easier, but if it's not working it kind of defeats the purpose...

[beforewisdom]

To get use out of any pill it has to dissolve, otherwise your digestive system can't absorb it. It is a matter of trying to force an object into a hole it is too large for.

 

White Vinegar is used because it simulates the pH inside of a human stomach. In other words, if your pill, calcium, multivitamin or whatever doesn't dissolve there, it is less likely it will dissolve inside of you in time for your body to uptake the stuff.

 

The bright yellow urine from the mutlvitamin is from the niacin in the pill. I don't know if that means the pill was full dissolved or just partially dissolved.

[xjohanx]

Just some random thoughts.

I believe the most sour vinegar is around 2,4 on the pH scale while gastric juice is around 1, it's a pretty big difference but maybe not big enough to make it significant. Also, wouldn't the test be more fair if you stirred every now and then? The stomach has some pretty big movements to mix the food around and it might influence how well the pill i dissolved.

[beforewisdom]

There is a group, the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) which is an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the counter medicines. They have a standard test that measures how well calcium supplements dissolve. Scientists have compared the USP’s method to the method you describe using white vinegar and found that the results were comparable. In other words, if a calcium supplement doesn’t dissolve well in white vinegar, it raises a concern that the supplement won’t dissolve well in your stomach. Hope this helps.

Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Nutrition Advisor, The Vegetarian Resource Group

[xjohanx]

Yeah I read your blogpost and that quote and it does not contradict or adress what I wrote.

 

There is a group, the United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) which is an official public standards-setting authority for all prescription and over-the counter medicines. They have a standard test that measures how well calcium supplements dissolve. Scientists have compared the USP’s method to the method you describe using white vinegar and found that the results were comparable. In other words, if a calcium supplement doesn’t dissolve well in white vinegar, it raises a concern that the supplement won’t dissolve well in your stomach. Hope this helps.

Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

Nutrition Advisor, The Vegetarian Resource Group

 

I suggested it would be more comparable to use something with a lower pH and stirring because it would ressemble a human stomach more than still vinegar.

[medman]

Yeah I read your blogpost and that quote and it does not contradict or adress what I wrote.

 

...I suggested it would be more comparable to use something with a lower pH and stirring because it would ressemble a human stomach more than still vinegar.

 

I agree, which is why I said the vinegar test wasn't empirical, it just kinda "has the right idea" or something along those lines. Gastric juice is a bit lower pH, and the mechanical agitation from the stomach would definitely also help. I don't see why this is such a huge issue though, when so many inexpensive chewable calcium tablets are out there. Chew TUMS or a generic version, and skip worrying about the whole dissolving issue IMHO.

[xjohanx]

Or just eating enough proper food...=)

[Vegan Joe]

TUMS

 

Other Ingredients

Sucrose, Calcium Carbonate, Corn Starch, Talc, Mineral Oil, Adipic Acid, Artificial Flavors, Sodium Polyphosphate, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 Lake

 

No thanks!

[medman]

TUMS

 

Other Ingredients

Sucrose, Calcium Carbonate, Corn Starch, Talc, Mineral Oil, Adipic Acid, Artificial Flavors, Sodium Polyphosphate, Red 40 Lake, Blue 1 Lake

 

No thanks!

 

There are many generic brands available too, and there are also chewable calcium tablets available from the likes of Jamieson that don't have artificial colours or preservatives.

[Rob PMFF]

Jamieson?

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jimristrem/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/jameson_irish_whiskey_outside_preschool_pointed_in_37.jpg

[medman]

Unfortunately, I was thinking more along the lines of http://www.walmart.ca/servletimagedownload?size=1&imageid=84163

[beforewisdom]

Jamieson?

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~jimristrem/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/jameson_irish_whiskey_outside_preschool_pointed_in_37.jpg

 

 

You win laugh of the week !