Eggshell Calcium Articles, Abstracts and Information

Following are citations of peer-reviewed articles and studies investigating the many benefits of calcium carbonate eggshell powder. The information provided is an excellent source of information regarding calcium for human diet compared to other sources of calcium.

1) "Positive effects of chicken eggshell powder enriched vitamin mineral supplement on femoral neck bone density in healthy late post-menopausal Dutch women" The British Journal of Nutrition Vol 87, Issue 3 March 2002. 12-month study. Positive outcome.
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2) "Short Term effects of chicken eggshell powder enriched dairy based products on bone mineral density in persons with osteoporosis and osteopenia" Bratisl Lek Listy 1999 Dec: 100(12):651-6. A reduction in pain was reported. "This pilot study indicates that the chicken eggshell powder enriched dairy based supplement increases BMD of subjects with low bone mass in the short term and as a consequence delays bone demineralization for a longer period."
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3) "Mineral, amino acid and hormonal composition of chicken eggshell powder and the evaluation of its use in human nutrition" Poultry Science 2000 Dec: 79(12):1833-8—"ESP seems to have a beneficial composition…"
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4) "Eggshell powder a comparable or better source of calcium than purified calcium carbonate: piglet studies" Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture Vol 79 Issue 12 (1999) "Our conclusion is that eggshell powder is, in the case of casein based diets, as good a source of calcium as CaCO3 and, in the case of soya protein based diets, better than CaCO3 for growing piglets. As the piglet model is considered representative for humans, chicken eggshell powder is also a promising source of calcium for human nutrition."
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5) Hen eggshell matrix proteins enhance calcium transport in the human intestinal epithelial cells
Osteoporosis is now becoming one of the most serious aged population's health concerns and a means needs to be found for increasing calcium (Ca) intake. Milk casein phosphopeptides have been demonstrated to enhance the intestinal absorption of Ca by facilitating paracellular absorption. Hen eggshell is composed of 97% solid (98% of Ca carbonate) and a trace of matrix proteins. The eggshell is disposed as a waste product. Recently, hen eggshell powder has been proposed as a new source of Ca supplement in many health foods in Japan. However, its bioavailability has not been evaluated in scientific level. In this study, we found that eggshell matrix proteins enhance Ca transport in the human intestinal epithelial cells. Our aim was to study the biological functions of eggshell matrix proteins on Ca bioavailability using an in vitro model of Caco-2 cells. The eggshell proteins were extracted by demineralizing with 20% acetic acid. The Caco-2 cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium and were seeded onto a 12-well transwell polyester membrane (0.4 micron) to make a monolayer. After became confluent (14 days), the cells were washed with Ca+-free Hank's balanced salt solution and subjected to Ca transport experiments. The amount of Ca in the basolateral side was determined using a Ca assay kit. The hen eggshell powder contained 0.89-1.0 % (w/w) proteins. The rate of transepithelial Ca transport across Caco-2 cell monolayer was significantly increased in the presence of extracted eggshell matrix proteins in the apical side (50 and 100 micro gram/well) to 26.0 and 29.5%, respectively after 4 hrs incubation, while Ca solution without the proteins showed 8.0% transport rate for Ca. On the basis of these results it can be concluded that eggshell matrix proteins could enhance Ca bioavailability. These results suggest that hen eggshell proteins could offer a new insight for improving Ca bioavailability as nutraceutical. Caco-2 cell is a good model as human small intestine for studying Ca transport in vitro.

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