Corn Tortillas - A Good Source of Calcium For Us?

I was eating Mexican tonight (enchiladas 3-ways) ..  and I suddenly had a flashback to my college days when I worked my way through school in a Mexican restaurant.  The local chain where I worked had their own little "factory" with a couple of machines that made their own flour and corn tortillas for cooking with in their restaurants.     Once in a great while they would need one of the restaurant workers to fill in for an absent or sick factory worker, and I would volunteer to make extra $s.     When we made the corn tortillas we would first soak the dry corn kernels in water in these big aluminum "bathrubs" on wheels, throw in a big sack of lime, turn the burners on under the "bathtubs" and boil the corn for a while to cook it and turn things into "masa", which is the cornmealish-mush that is the basis of the tortillas. (which are then rolled out flat and cooked).    (ahh, the smell of masa in the morning!  )   I would bet that the ilme in the tortillas contained a lot of calcium.     Anyone have any idea how much calcium is in corn tortillas and how bioavailable it would be to us?     Since the calcium is derived from the lime, I wouldn't be surprised if it is calcium citrate, which is just the type we want.      

Corn Tortillas - A Good Source of Calciu NO. Waaaaay too many carbs for the amount of calcium. See, Paul, it's this kind of thinking that has you farting and pooping your pants.  Citrical---it works.

   Actually, Ms. B., corn chips were my friend since almost a month out ..   about the only "vegetable" I could tolerate .. , and yet I still managed to amass a 200 lb. weight loss in 10 months ...     I'd like to think corn is a bit more complex carb than potatoes, white four wheat, etc. (but I could be wrong on that) ..    I just know I'm tired of being tethered to a jar of Spring Valley calcium citrate "horse capsules" at both home and work  --  running for a pair of them every 2-3 hours like some "supplement junkie" ..      But oh well, the DS is worth it .. 

YEAH.

And YOU'RE the one who's been fired because of his nasty farts. You *might* wanna lay off those corn chips.

Do whatever makes you happy.  Just don't fart in my general direction. I'm NOT saying that corn tortillias are a BAD thing to eat---I eat 'em myself. I'm justing saying that they DONT provide enough calcium to outweigh their high-carbness. As my DS surgeon told me---"Eat and enjoy!" Just take responsibility for what your choices do to you.

   Well, in answer to the questions, here is the reponse of our unofficial OH food scientist to the cross-post on the main forum:   * * * * * *   Post Date: 7/8/08 9:13 pm

> Since the calcium is derived from the lime,
> I wouldn't be surprised if it is calcium citrate,
> which is just the type we want. 

What?  Because it's called "lime"?   The term "lime" when it has to do with a calcium salt has nothing to do with the term "lime" when applied to a citrus fruit.  "Lime" is calcium hydroxide, a caustic alkali, which is used to process corn for consumption in a process known as nixtamalization.  This helps make the nutrients in coarsely milled corn more bioavailable.  It also adds calcium, in a form which is generally considered quite bioavailable, at least to people with unmodified intestinal anatomies.

The amount of calcium in masa isn't standardized, but studies I've seen claim that's it's approx 300mg per 100 grams (3.5 oz).  That's about one typical calcium citrate tablet.

On the other hand, if this were going to be a significant source of calcium for a post-op WLSer, I'd imagine that you'd have a eat quite a few tortillas!   Kinda carb-heavy when eaten in bulk, no?

/Steve
  * * * * * *    Sad to see that it doesn't contain all that much calcium after all ..  

I remember, when I was pregnant, the nutritionist telling me that corn tortillas were a good source of calcium.   Probably not enough for us DS'ers, but still better than nothing. Corn tortillas are one of the few carbs that I can eat without repercussions also.    I eat chilaquiles for breakfast - tear up a couple of them, saute them in oil till crispy, then scramble them with eggs and top with cheese and sour cream.   I think, from my memory, that three corn tortillas are like 20 net carbs - not a bad dose of carbs for someone on 100 carbs a day.

According to Foobear, our resident food scientist (or biochemist?) ..  one tortilla has about as much bioavailable calcium as one calcium citrate supp. pill ..