Ray was speeking specifically about calcium supplementation with calcium citrate. Here is a bit more of the conversation:
RP: Yeah. There’s been a lot of publicity in the last few months about calcium supplements not being very helpful, and the most popular form of calcium supplement medically has been either calcium gluconate or calcium…I guess gluconate is probably the most popular…
HD: Or citrate.
RP: Citrate, yeah. Citric acid itself causes you to lose calcium in your urine. Lactate is another popular supplement. All of those have their anti-calcification effects, causing you to lose calcium or misplace it.
HD: And here they advertise that calcium citrate is the only observable form for menopausal women, and you’re saying that it actually inhibits some of the absorption of the calcium?
RP: It activates the loss of calcium in urine, where carbonate…it isn’t quite as soluble if you don’t have a lot of acid, but eventually, all the way down to your intestine, it has the chance to absorb, so it’s a very effective, but safe supplement, because the carbonic acid…the carbon dioxide is the form that stimulates bone formation rather than breaking down the bone.
HD: And a really easy way to get an adequate level if you don’t eat dairy, or drink milk, or eat cheese is to do eggshell powder for calcium carbonate. Like where a quart of milk has about 1000mg of calcium, am I correct, Dr. Peat?
RP: Yeah, 1000 or 1200.
Well, I was just wondering if citric acid would just as well cause not only loss of calcium in urine, but magnesium and potassium and sodium as well.
Regardless, I have become very negative on citrus fruits because of their citric acid content. But at least with citrus fruits, potassium is abundant and that makes up for the citric acid content's effects. What is even worse is straight citric acid.
If I were to avoid citrus fruits - and replace them with non-citrus fruits - would that be a good thing? What am I losing?