Does calcium citrate reduce stomach acid?

I occasionally get a mild sour stomach and I've always tried not to
take Tums or Rolaids because I don't like to take "medicine" if
possible. I just noticed that the active ingredient in Tums is calcium
carbonate. That's same ingredient found in my calcium tablets that I
take every day along with calcium citrate. My question is will a
calcium carbonate/citrate tablet work just as well for reducing acid in
your stomach? What about calcium citrate by itself without the
carbonate?

Quoted message said:

I occasionally get a mild sour stomach and I've always tried not to
take Tums or Rolaids because I don't like to take "medicine" if
possible. I just noticed that the active ingredient in Tums is calcium
carbonate. That's same ingredient found in my calcium tablets that I
take every day along with calcium citrate. My question is will a
calcium carbonate/citrate tablet work just as well for reducing acid in
your stomach? What about calcium citrate by itself without the
carbonate?

COMMENT:

The carbonate is what neutralizes stomach acid, and the calcium goes
along for the ride. You could use sodium carbonate or bicarbonate just
as well (and this is done), but calcium products are more convenient,
more dense, and less salty. Unfortunately, calcium also produces an
acid rebound some hours later (something the TUMS people don't tell you
about the effect of calcium on acid production). So I'd suggest that if
you're using a carbonate for immediate acid neutralization, I'd suggest
you pop a generic Pepcid/famotidine along with it. These are pretty
cheap these days.

Contrary to what you heard, calcium citrate is not an ester, but a
simple chemical salt of calcium and citric acid (which is NOT vitamin
C). Basic citrate salts do have some acid-neutralizing capability
against strong acids like HCl in your stomach, but aren't nearly as
good as carbonate salts. They are used as sources of calcium mainly for
people who don't have a lot of stomach acid. If you use other buffers
or acid blockers, it's hard to tell if that's you or not.

SBH

"Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I occasionally get a mild sour stomach and I've always tried not to
take Tums or Rolaids because I don't like to take "medicine" if
possible. I just noticed that the active ingredient in Tums is calcium
carbonate. That's same ingredient found in my calcium tablets that I
take every day along with calcium citrate. My question is will a
calcium carbonate/citrate tablet work just as well for reducing acid in
your stomach? What about calcium citrate by itself without the
carbonate?

COMMENT:

The carbonate is what neutralizes stomach acid, and the calcium goes
along for the ride. You could use sodium carbonate or bicarbonate just
as well (and this is done), but calcium products are more convenient,
more dense, and less salty. Unfortunately, calcium also produces an
acid rebound some hours later (something the TUMS people don't tell you
about the effect of calcium on acid production). So I'd suggest that if
you're using a carbonate for immediate acid neutralization, I'd suggest
you pop a generic Pepcid/famotidine along with it. These are pretty
cheap these days.

Contrary to what you heard, calcium citrate is not an ester, but a
simple chemical salt of calcium and citric acid (which is NOT vitamin
C). Basic citrate salts do have some acid-neutralizing capability
against strong acids like HCl in your stomach, but aren't nearly as
good as carbonate salts. They are used as sources of calcium mainly for
people who don't have a lot of stomach acid. If you use other buffers
or acid blockers, it's hard to tell if that's you or not.

SBH

You forgot to mention Milk alkali syndrome.

"With the development of nonabsorbable alkali and histamine-2 blockers for
treatment of peptic ulcer disease, milk-alkali syndrome became a rare cause
of hypercalcemia; however, with increased use and promotion of calcium
carbonate for dyspepsia and as calcium supplementation, a resurgence of
milk-alkali syndrome has occurred in the last few years."

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1477.htm

Increase calcium levels as mentioned cause rebound hyperacidity.

"cr113" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]

Quoted message said:

I occasionally get a mild sour stomach and I've always tried not to
take Tums or Rolaids because I don't like to take "medicine" if
possible. I just noticed that the active ingredient in Tums is calcium
carbonate. That's same ingredient found in my calcium tablets that I
take every day along with calcium citrate. My question is will a
calcium carbonate/citrate tablet work just as well for reducing acid in
your stomach? What about calcium citrate by itself without the
carbonate?

Calcium Citrate is better obsorbed then carbonate for
persons with osteoporosis and is more expensive .

Kam

--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Robert said:

You forgot to mention Milk alkali syndrome.

"With the development of nonabsorbable alkali and histamine-2 blockers for
treatment of peptic ulcer disease, milk-alkali syndrome became a rare cause
of hypercalcemia; however, with increased use and promotion of calcium
carbonate for dyspepsia and as calcium supplementation, a resurgence of
milk-alkali syndrome has occurred in the last few years."

COMMENT

Yep. Milk-alkali syndrome (too much calcium in the blood from taking
calcium plus base, in the old days bicarbonate of soda and milk)
generally takes upwards of 4 grams of calcium a day (that's about a
dozen regular TUMS or 6 Ultastrength TUMS) to give you too much calcium
in the blood, but you never know how much is too much, people are so
variable in how they handle calcium. All in all, the combo of TUMS and
pepcid, keeping the TUMS down to 6 regulars or (at most) 3 ultras a
day, is the best idea.

Somebody's now probably going to ask what happens if you get the
milk-alkali syndrome. Probably the first noticable feature is diuresis
(too much urine), and thirst. But the symptoms of hypercalcemia are so
variable I'd rather not go there.

SBH

"Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Robert said:

You forgot to mention Milk alkali syndrome.

"With the development of nonabsorbable alkali and histamine-2 blockers

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

treatment of peptic ulcer disease, milk-alkali syndrome became a rare

cause

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of hypercalcemia; however, with increased use and promotion of calcium
carbonate for dyspepsia and as calcium supplementation, a resurgence of
milk-alkali syndrome has occurred in the last few years."

COMMENT

Yep. Milk-alkali syndrome (too much calcium in the blood from taking
calcium plus base, in the old days bicarbonate of soda and milk)
generally takes upwards of 4 grams of calcium a day (that's about a
dozen regular TUMS or 6 Ultastrength TUMS) to give you too much calcium
in the blood, but you never know how much is too much, people are so
variable in how they handle calcium. All in all, the combo of TUMS and
pepcid, keeping the TUMS down to 6 regulars or (at most) 3 ultras a
day, is the best idea.

Somebody's now probably going to ask what happens if you get the
milk-alkali syndrome. Probably the first noticable feature is diuresis
(too much urine), and thirst. But the symptoms of hypercalcemia are so
variable I'd rather not go there.

SBH

That's correct especially with hyperparathyroidism out there and people with
stones out there but those deficient in calcium should obviously take
calcium.

How could people get hypocalcemia when calcium is so readily available for
green vegetables and other foods.

I guess dairy consumption can lower absorption of calcium and since the
market propaganda started 40 years ago people can hurt themselves with too
much dairy.

(flames to follow)
"Robert" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

"Sbharris[atsign]ix.netcom.com" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Robert said:

You forgot to mention Milk alkali syndrome.

"With the development of nonabsorbable alkali and histamine-2 blockers

for

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

treatment of peptic ulcer disease, milk-alkali syndrome became a rare

cause

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of hypercalcemia; however, with increased use and promotion of calcium
carbonate for dyspepsia and as calcium supplementation, a resurgence of
milk-alkali syndrome has occurred in the last few years."

COMMENT

Yep. Milk-alkali syndrome (too much calcium in the blood from taking
calcium plus base, in the old days bicarbonate of soda and milk)
generally takes upwards of 4 grams of calcium a day (that's about a
dozen regular TUMS or 6 Ultastrength TUMS) to give you too much calcium
in the blood, but you never know how much is too much, people are so
variable in how they handle calcium. All in all, the combo of TUMS and
pepcid, keeping the TUMS down to 6 regulars or (at most) 3 ultras a
day, is the best idea.

Somebody's now probably going to ask what happens if you get the
milk-alkali syndrome. Probably the first noticable feature is diuresis
(too much urine), and thirst. But the symptoms of hypercalcemia are so
variable I'd rather not go there.

SBH

That's correct especially with hyperparathyroidism out there and people with
stones out there but those deficient in calcium should obviously take
calcium.

"Pizza Girl." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:1127528867.e1658d9d86985c55e1460177ad620902@teranews...

Quoted message said:

How could people get hypocalcemia when calcium is so readily available for
green vegetables and other foods.

I guess dairy consumption can lower absorption of calcium and since the
market propaganda started 40 years ago people can hurt themselves with too
much dairy.

Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Sep;82(3):523-30. Related Articles, Books, LinkOut

Dairy consumption is inversely associated with the prevalence of the
metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults.

Azadbakht L, Mirmiran P, Esmaillzadeh A, Azizi F.

Endocrine Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences,
Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Although previous studies showed some benefits from dairy
consumption with respect to obesity and insulin resistance syndrome,
epidemiologic data on the association between dairy intakes and metabolic
syndrome are sparse. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to evaluate the relation
between dairy consumption and metabolic syndrome in Tehranian adults.
DESIGN: Dairy consumption and features of metabolic syndrome were assessed
in a population-based cross-sectional study of 827 subjects (357 men and 470
women) aged 18-74 y. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to guidelines
of the Adult Treatment Panel III. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted
for lifestyle and nutritional confounders was used in 4 models. RESULTS:
Mean (+/-SD) consumption of milk, yogurt, and cheese was 0.7 +/- 0.2, 1.06
+/- 0.6, and 0.9 +/- 0.3 servings/d, respectively. Subjects in the highest
quartile of dairy consumption had lower odds of having enlarged waist
circumference [odds ratio (OR) by quartile: 1, 0.89, 0.74, 0.63; P for trend
< 0.001], hypertension (OR by quartile: 1, 0.88, 0.79, 0.71; P for trend <
0.02), and metabolic syndrome (OR by quartile: 1, 0.83, 0.74, 0.69; P for
trend < 0.02). The values of ORs became weaker after further adjustment for
calcium intake. CONCLUSION: Dairy consumption is inversely associated with
the risk of having metabolic syndrome. It seems that this relation is
somewhat attributed to calcium.

PMID: 16155263 [PubMed - in process]

Clin Calcium. 2005 Feb;15(2):255-60. Related Articles, Books, LinkOut
[Magnesium and hypertension]

[Article in Japanese]

Rosanoff A.

Independent Scholar (Hawaii, U.S.A).

Magnesium status has a direct effect upon the relaxation capability of
vascular smooth muscle cells and the regulation of the cellular placement of
other cations important to blood pressure - cellular sodium:potassium (Na:K)
ratio and intracellular calcium (iCa(2+)). As a result, nutritional
magnesium has both direct and indirect impacts on the regulation of blood
pressure and therefore on the occurrence of hypertension. Hypertension
occurs when cellular Na:K ratios become too high, a consequence of a high
sodium, low potassium diet or, indirectly, through a magnesium deficient
state which causes a pseudo potassium deficit. Like wise, magnesium
deficiency alters calcium metabolism, creating high iCa(2+), low serum
calcium and low urinary calcium states even when calcium intake is adequate.
High iCa(2 + ) and high cellular Na:K ratio both occur when cellular
magnesium becomes too low and the Mg-ATP driven sodium-potassium pump and
calcium pump become functionally impaired. High iCa(2+) has several
vasoconstrictive effects which lead to hypertension, an indirect result of
low magnesium status. Dietary calcium is directly proportional to dietary
magnesium. Serum magnesium does not reflect true magnesium status as do
intracellular magnesium measurements. Several studies on the effect of
calcium on blood pressure need these added considerations of magnesium
status to fully understand the impact of the Mg:Ca ratio as the primary
cause of hypertension and other aspects of Syndrome X. Magnesium
supplementation above 15 mmol per day are required to normalize high blood
pressure in unmedicated hypertensive patients while 15 mmol per day will
lower high blood pressure in patients treated with anti-hypertensive
medications. In most humans, healthy blood pressure depends upon a balance
of both Na:K and Mg:Ca ratios at both cellular and whole body levels which,
in turn, require adequate, long-term intakes of nutritional magnesium. The
knowledge that low magnesium causes imbalance in both cellular and
physiological calcium widens our view of the studies showing hypertensives
have abnormal calcium metabolism.

Publication Types:
Review