Can drinking bone soup really supplement calcium?

In the topic of children's growth and development, these questions are quite common, such as "What to eat to supplement calcium?" "What nutritional supplements can supplement calcium?" "Can drinking bone soup regularly supplement calcium?" Today, let's find out whether drinking bone soup can really supplement calcium.

First, let's look at what properties the calcium in bones has from a biological perspective. It is certain that bones do contain a lot of calcium, almost 90% of the calcium content of the whole animal. But it should be noted that this calcium hidden in bones is biological calcium. It is difficult to separate it from the bones by conventional cooking methods. Even if it is boiled for a long time, it is difficult to produce a large amount of free calcium that can be absorbed by the human body.

Why is this the case? In a previous study, it was found that after two hours of stewing a kilogram of bones, the calcium concentration in the soup was less than 2 mg/100 ml. Even if the researchers extended the stewing time and increased the amount of bones, the calcium concentration in the soup did not exceed 4 mg/100 ml. Therefore, it is almost impossible for the human body to take in more calcium from bone soup. More importantly, calcium can only be absorbed in the human intestine when it is completely converted into an ionic state.

Since bones cannot provide us with more calcium by boiling them from a chemical point of view, can adding some vinegar to water help separate calcium better? A related survey provides us with a good answer. Investigators provided three samples to the testing department, namely milk, pure bone soup, and bone soup with vinegar. After testing, the calcium content of pure bone soup was 11 mg per liter, the calcium content of bone soup with vinegar was 43.2 mg per liter, and the calcium content of milk per liter was about 1113 mg. In other words, the calcium content in pure bone soup is only one percent of that in milk, and the calcium content in bone soup with vinegar is only four percent of that in milk, that is, we need to drink 25 liters of bone soup with vinegar to get about the same calcium intake as a small box of milk. Zhao Yan, a nutritionist at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, said: "Although the calcium content in bone soup with vinegar is higher than that in tap water, it is still not recommended in terms of calcium supplementation. Even if it is stewed over a slow fire, the effect will not be better. Compared with bone soup, milk has a relatively high calcium content."

Why is there a saying that "drinking more bone soup can supplement calcium"? Because bone soup is thick and white in color and tastes mellow, people mistakenly believe that calcium in bones can be boiled out. In fact, the boiled bone soup is as pure white as milk because the soup contains a lot of fat. After a long time of boiling, the meat and bones are separated, and the fat in the meat is dissolved into the soup. These dispersed fine fat droplets are wrapped by protein, and the color is as pure white as milk. The thicker the white, the more fat the soup contains. The more fat, the more mellow and delicious the taste.

In terms of diet, in addition to the milk mentioned above, yogurt and cheese are also good calcium supplements. Soybeans and their products, sesame paste, nuts, seafood such as fish, shrimp and shellfish are also good choices for calcium supplements. In addition, most dark green vegetables have high calcium content, such as spinach, rapeseed, kale, etc., and the vitamins, magnesium, potassium, etc. contained in these vegetables can promote the body's absorption and utilization of calcium. Therefore, increasing the intake of appropriate amounts of vegetables is helpful to maintain the health of human bones.

In addition to dietary calcium supplements, calcium nutritional supplements can also be chosen by special groups of people with poor absorption or digestion, or those with unbalanced diets.

To sum up, the statement that "drinking bone soup can supplement calcium" is unscientific.