--------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Royal-Health.Com" <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
Beware! Antacids can Dilute Vitamins and Minerals! BY RICHARD HARKNESS -KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS - April 18, 2000 Antacids such as Mylanta and Maalox often are used to neutralize stomach acid in conditions such as heartburn and acid indigestion, as well as stomach ulcers. A potential problem is that antacid use may affect the body's absorption of folic acid and several key minerals. Folic acid: Folic acid deficiency is said to be the most common vitamin deficiency worldwide. This is one reason that folic acid supplementation may be recommended if you take certain drugs or have medical conditions thought to deplete the vitamin. It's especially important that women of child-bearing age get enough folic acid to help prevent neural tube birth defects. Folic acid is known to be absorbed best under somewhat acidic conditions, so it stands to reason that antacids, which lower stomach acid -- might be a problem. Surprisingly though, a test-tube experiment suggests that antacids interfere with folic acid absorption primarily by physically binding to it. The antacid studied contained aluminum and magnesium hydroxide (the most common type), and the aluminum was found to be the binding agent. The decrease in folic acid absorption was small, so this may be a problem only if you take an antacid regularly and your diet is marginal in folic acid. A simple precaution that should help when taking this and any supplement is to separate meals and antacids by a couple of hours*. Magnesium: The recommendation to take more calcium to prevent osteoporosis has raised concerns that higher calcium intake might adversely affect magnesium in the body. However, the calcium present in some antacids or supplements may alter the absorption of magnesium, this apparently has no significant effect on overall magnesium status. Phosphorus and calcium: Aluminum-containing antacids can deplete phosphorus, which further leads to calcium depletion, especially with long-term antacid use. In this case, increasing your intake of calcium and phosphorus would be beneficial. Zinc and iron: By reducing stomach acidity, antacids might interfere with the absorption of zinc and iron and possibly other minerals that are absorbed best under acidic conditions. The calcium itself present in some antacids may reduce iron absorption. Though findings aren't clear-cut on calcium supplements, most studies suggest that they also may interfere with iron absorption. Calcium supplements or antacids containing calcium should be taken apart from meals. If you take calcium and iron supplements, calcium carbonate may be the form least likely to affect iron absorption when both supplements are taken on an empty stomach. Manganese: In some cases, calcium may reduce the absorption of manganese. Chromium: Calcium-containing antacids may reduce the absorption of chromium, according to an animal study. Since the body's absorption of chromium is low ordinarily -- reportedly less than 2 percent of dietary chromium -- this interaction could be important in humans. Take calcium-containing antacids or calcium supplements (especially calcium carbonate) 2 to 3 hours apart from chromium supplements or meals. -- The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: [email protected] -or- [email protected] with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. To post, address your message to: [email protected] Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
