Chicken soup revisited: Calcium content of soup increases with duration of cooking

Abstract

Because low dietary calcium intake may accelerate bone loss, patients often are advised to increase their dietary intake of calcium. However, some patients may be unable to tolerate good calcium sources such as dairy products. We postulated that the calcium content of soups and stews could be increased by prolonged cooking with a beef bone. Three experiments were done to prove this theory: (1) a bone soup made with a beef bone and distilled water, cooked for 24 hours; (2) a bone-vegetable soup cooked the same way; and (3) a vegetable soup made the same way but without the bone. It was concluded that prolonged cooking of a bone in soup increases the calcium content of the soup when cooked at an acidic, but not at a neutral pH.

Essential and toxic metals in animal bone broths

“…Animal bones contain minerals and so simmering them is generally believed to produce a broth that also contains minerals. Studies have demonstrated that calcium and magnesium levels in broth are generally related to cooking time [ 7 ], but little is known about the extraction of other elements, including toxic metals, in broths.…”

“…However, findings have been inconsistent. For example, the calcium concentration in a soup that is made of cow vertebra and various vegetables (simmered for 24 h, pH = 4.48) was found to be ~26 times that in a soup without vegetables (pH = 7.06) [ 7 ]. Conversely, lowering the pH of a soup that was made from chicken wings (simmered for 2–6 h) from ~7.0 to ~5.7 by adding vinegar caused a small increase, by a factor of 1.4, in calcium concentration [ 14 ].…”

“…Previous studies have examined the extraction of essential elements, mainly calcium, from various animal bone sources, including veal, bovine and even chicken wing, with different cooking treatments [ 1 , 7 , 8 , 14 ]. Thus, inter-species comparisons are difficult to perform.…”

“…Studies have shown that the amounts of calcium and magnesium that are extracted from bones generally increase with cooking time [ 1 , 7 ]. The experimental results herein confirm this relationship ( Figure 1 and Table 1 ).…”

Quality Characteristics of Samgyetang according to the Sodium Chloride Level and with/without Phosphate in Broth

“…Owing to its cost-effectiveness and short raising term, chicken meat not only has a high economic benefit but also is in high global consumer demand. Chicken meat also has some health benefits with lower fat and cholesterol contents but higher protein content than red meats (Jaturasitha et al, 2008; Rosen et al, 1994). In Korea, chicken meat is cooked with various methods such as roasted, as a steamed dish, and boiled.…”