I recall hearing some time ago that cooking with milk and milk products reduced the amount of calcium in them. This doesn’t make much sense to me, though it may be that the calcium in the milk binds something in the rest of the dish that reduces its bioavailablity.
What’s the deal with this? Is there any truth to that odd comment I heard so long ago, and should I stop making my oatmeal with milk?
Doing a web search found no effect of cooking on the calcium content of the foodstuff.
Make your oatmeal with milk, beer, coke, or whatever turns you crank.
Some foods can reduce calcium absorption.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2001/1111/fitness.html
The pure wheat bran reduced calcium absorption by 50 percent, only at that meal. A person who insisted on having pure wheat bran with milk for breakfast could drink more milk a couple of hours earlier or later to offset the interference.
It’s the phytates in fiber that interfere with calcium absorption. Legumes are also high in phytates, so the calcium in beans is only half as available for absorption as the calcium in milk, although soaking beans, changing the water and then cooking them reduces their phytate level. Protein, sodium and oxalates — found in spinach, rhubarb, beet greens and almonds — also inhibit calcium absorption, so for optimal absorption they also could be eaten at other times than a when taking a calcium supplement or food.
http://www.ehow.com/how_3953_absorb-calcium-supplements.html
Eat foods containing oxalic acid in moderation. Oxalic acid interferes with calcium absorption. Foods containing oxalic acid include almonds, beet greens, cashews, chard, kale, rhubarb and spinach.
Use wheat bran in moderation. Excessive amounts can interfere with calcium absorption.
Dr. Robert Wolke will know. This guy knows everything about food science. Here is the credit that appears at the end of his biweekly column in the Washington Post.
Robert L. Wolke (http://www.robertwolke.com ) is professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh. His latest book is “What Einstein Told His Cook 2, the Sequel: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science” (W.W. Norton, 2005). He can be reached atwolke@pitt.edu.
Interesting. According to Duck Duck Goose ’s second link, I should be eating an orange with my milk-made oatmeal.
Thanks, folks. I’ve got to go to work, but I’m going to look at this more when I get back.