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Thank you. In layman's terms, pH is a scale for measuring alkalinity vs acidity. Calcium is supposedly alkaline and high levels of intracellular calcium is ass

Thank you. In layman's terms, pH is a scale for measuring alkalinity vs acidity. Calcium is supposedly alkaline and high levels of intracellular calcium is associated with cell death (apoptosis). So, for example, some people with CF avoid calcium because they think excess calcium causes cell death. But I think most likely excess calcium -- along with high levels of intracellular glutathione -- are a desperate attempt to buffer against something, including but not limited to excess acid. So that's really what I'm interested in understanding. And also would love to see confirmation that calcium stores helped life leave the ocean and that wasn't something stupid and stated in error. Though people with CF also likely misprocess sodium bicarbonate, in addition to being prone to very early onset osteoporosis (as early as their teens).

pdonis 3y ago
> Calcium is supposedly alkaline More precisely, calcium is an alkali earth metal (second column from the left in the periodic table), and those metals are so named because the compounds in which they were first discovered were alkalis. But that does not mean all calcium compounds are alkalis. For example, calcium citrate, which is a common way to convey calcium in supplements, can be weakly acidic in water solution (because of the citrate ion).
hansvm 3y ago
> Calcium is supposedly alkaline Most reliable sources of information describing calcium as alkaline stem from PRAL (potential renal acid load) and other kidney literature. Combined with the right chemicals (as you find in the kidneys), calcium does reduce acidity (contrasted with a buffering agent, the formulae are more linear, and a linear amount of other shit requires a linear amount of calcium or other alkalizing compounds to compensate) in the kidneys. As something of a fun aside, most "alkaline diets" recommend a diet of weakly to strongly acidic foods which have an alkalizing effect on the kidneys and nearly no pH impact anywhere else in the body. No comment on the rest. I just want to reiterate that acid/alkaline in one context (most commonly a description of the hydrogen concentration or other related ions) absolutely does not translate without extra effort and math and chemistry to other contexts (like anything describing calcium as alkaline). When those two ideas are mixed in presentation, a correct interpretation absolutely requires you to understand the details of what/where/why an author means when they refer to pH as something other than hydrogen/hydroxide concentration.

pdonis 3y ago

> Calcium is supposedly alkaline More precisely, calcium is an alkali earth metal (second column from the left in the periodic table), and those metals are so named because the compounds in which they were first discovered were alkalis. But that does not mean all calcium compounds are alkalis. For example, calcium citrate, which is a common way to convey calcium in supplements, can be weakly acidic in water solution (because of the citrate ion).

hansvm 3y ago

> Calcium is supposedly alkaline Most reliable sources of information describing calcium as alkaline stem from PRAL (potential renal acid load) and other kidney literature. Combined with the right chemicals (as you find in the kidneys), calcium does reduce acidity (contrasted with a buffering agent, the formulae are more linear, and a linear amount of other shit requires a linear amount of calcium or other alkalizing compounds to compensate) in the kidneys. As something of a fun aside, most "alkaline diets" recommend a diet of weakly to strongly acidic foods which have an alkalizing effect on the kidneys and nearly no pH impact anywhere else in the body. No comment on the rest. I just want to reiterate that acid/alkaline in one context (most commonly a description of the hydrogen concentration or other related ions) absolutely does not translate without extra effort and math and chemistry to other contexts (like anything describing calcium as alkaline). When those two ideas are mixed in presentation, a correct interpretation absolutely requires you to understand the details of what/where/why an author means when they refer to pH as something other than hydrogen/hydroxide concentration.