Sunday, November 20, 2011

Calcium carbonate hoax

I made this blog entry in case someone googles "calcium carbonate hoax" or something similar in an attempt to know more about this omg awful conspiracy.

Someone posted this on facebook : http://www.angioprim.com/Learnmore/Toxiccalcium.asp?RepID=33732 telling everyone to be careful not to eat anything that contains calcium carbonate and that calcium bicarbonate is the good and healthy stuff you should look for.

Turns out they are full of shit. (Whowoudathought)

I took a screenshot of their website... just because I'm evil against the evil.



Here is the truth. First, companies often omit the numeral prefixes likes di-, tri-, hexa-, octa-, etc. in their ingredient listings for the sake of simplicity. This is something I learned in my secondary 4 science class when I realized that most of the ingredients in my nutritional drink were "impossible". I asked my teacher about it and that's what she told me. Companies simplify the molecule names in the ingredient lists to make it easier for people to read and understand. So when you see "magnesium chloride", what's really in the product is magnesium dichloride. When you see "calcium phosphate", what's really in the product is tricalcium phosphate. When you see "zinc sulfate", what's really in the product is zinc tetraoxosulfate.
And so on.

If there is no di-, tri-, tetra-, hexa-, etc. prefix in the ingredient list of a product, it's because they have all been omitted for the sake of simplicity. It's not because companies are trying to poison you with dangerous components.

Second, what's used in rolaids, caltrate and other calcium-based products of the same kind is calcium trioxocarbonate (CaCO3). CaCO3 reacts with stomach acid (HCl) to form water (H2O), CO2 and CaCl2 which is water soluble (CaCO3 + HCl -> CaCl2 + H2O + CO2). And guess what? Calcium bicarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2), the one Angioprim claims is healthy, reacts with stomach acid (HCl) to form the same fucking thing (Ca(HCO3)2 + 2 HCl -> CaCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 CO2), only with more water and CO2 byproducts.

Way to go, charlatans.

Need more proof of their full of shitness?

Unlike what the angioprim website says, enzymes have nothing to do with absorbtion or "control of the calcium" present in the human body. Enzymes are catalysts in chemical reactions that transform some nutrients into a bio-available form (like fats, for example). Calcium dichloride (CaCl2) enters the bloodstream through ion channels with the help of D vitamin-based proteins. Calcium dichloride is already bio-available and does not need enzymes.

That Angioprim site is trying to sell you chelation therapy by capitalizing on your ignorance, on the false claim that the calcium gained from CaCO3 isn't water soluble like the calcium gained from Ca(HCO3)2 (when actually, both need to be transformed with stomach acid, and both yield exactly the same form of bio-available calcium) and on the claim that there is a big conspiracy where companies are trying to poison you with calcium carbonate to make you sick, giving more money to the big pharma companies.

Open your eyes and think, people. Do your researches, ask knowledgeable people and google is your friend.


Update :
I've sent them an email about this whole thing. Here is the email in question.
Your page about toxic calcium (http://www.angioprim.com/Learnmore/Toxiccalcium.asp?RepID=33732) is really full of bullshit.

Calcium carbonate (which is really CaCO3) reacts with stomach acid to form CaCl2 following this formula : CaCO3 + HCl -> CaCl2 + H2O + CO2

Calcium bicarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2) reacts with stomach acid to form CaCl2 following this formula : Ca(HCO3)2 + 2 HCl -> CaCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 CO2

So in the end, your claim that calcium carbonate is bad is full of bullshit, because it does exactly the same thing as calcium bicarbonate.

What do you have to say about this?

Trolololol. Waiting for an answer.

Update 2 :
December 23 2011 : Still no reply. :B

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the info. And the prices they are asking is outrageous! And they are saying other companies are trying to poison them? That makes no sense but this company is trying to rob you. How is that an honorable thing?

    ReplyDelete