#calcium — Public Fediverse posts

#Goodnews #Tuesday #CheeseLovers 😋👇

#Cheese Lovers Unite: The Benefits of Full-Fat #Dairy Documented in #Study Without Cholesterol Rise or Weight Gain
"participants who ate more dairy saw improvements in #bloodpressure and had higher intake of #calcium, #protein and vitamin D.. The physical structure of dairy #foods affects how the #nutrients within are digested and how they impact the body."
👉 Small but significant randomized study that will hopefully be expanded soon!😊
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/cheese-lovers-unite-the-benefits-of-full-fat-dairy-documented-in-study-without-cholesterol-rise-or-weight-gain/

💁🏻‍♀️ TIL: 🐌🌧️ #MaxPlanck researchers collected brown-lipped #snails on rainy days, fed them cucumbers and lichen, then coaxed out five different kinds of #mucus.

Each #slime uses the same #proteins with varying concentrations, plus different amounts of #calcium and other ions. The result is a lubricant for gliding, two defensive options, a winter seal, and an adhesive that sticks to #wood, #glass, and #aluminum.

👉 https://www.npr.org/2026/08/06/nx-s1-5920383/snail-slime-mucus-inspire-new-materials

#biomimicry #materials #nature #science #animals #biology #adaptation

'Plantaardige melk is minder voedzaam dan koemelk'

"De melkalternatieven zijn niet ongezond op zich, maar ze missen belangrijke voedingsstoffen die wel in koemelk zitten: calcium, vitamine D, eiwit en vitamine B12. Plantaardige melk is soms wel verrijkt met die voedingsstoffen, maar het gaat zelden om dezelfde hoeveelheden als in koemelk (3). Verrijkte sojamelk komt het dichtst in de buurt van koemelk. Amandel-, haver-, rijst- en kokosmelk zitten daar vaak ver onder."

"Veel zogenaamde biologische plantaardige melksoorten zijn zelfs niet verrijkt met calcium of vitamine D"

https://www.gezondheidenwetenschap.be/gezondheid-in-de-media/plantaardige-melk-is-minder-voedzaam-dan-koemelk

#gezondheid #calcium #koemelk #sojamelk #osteoporose #botontkalking

The Plume and the Alibi

https://bolesblogs.com/2026/07/31/the-plume-and-the-alibi/

10,000 Neurons, Four Brain States: A Reusable Map of the Mouse Cortex Across Sleep and Wakefulness

Share if you found this interesting.

https://1ban.news/mouse-cortex-calcium-imaging-sleep-dataset-2026/

#1ban #mouse #cortex #calcium #imaging #sleep

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🌳🪨 A large-scale field #experiment in #Wales shows that adding crushed volcanic #basalt rock dust to #soil accelerates native woodland growth.

The #nature-based method boosted #carbon capture by up to 27% in the first four years, providing an urgent tool for global #climate restoration efforts.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/how-does-magic-basalt-dust-help-plants-grow-faster-and-lock-up-more-carbon

#biology #calcium #chemistry #climatechange #conservation #ecology #forest #iron #magnesium #minerals #plants #research #rocks #science #silica #solutions #trees #uk #womeninstem #tksst #video

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🌳🪨 A large-scale field #experiment in #Wales shows that adding crushed volcanic #basalt rock dust to #soil accelerates native woodland growth.

The #nature-based method boosted #carbon capture by up to 27% in the first four years, providing an urgent tool for global #climate restoration efforts.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/how-does-magic-basalt-dust-help-plants-grow-faster-and-lock-up-more-carbon

#biology #calcium #chemistry #climatechange #conservation #ecology #forest #iron #magnesium #minerals #plants #research #rocks #science #silica #solutions #trees #uk #womeninstem #tksst #video

💁🏻‍♀️ ICYMI: 🌳🪨 A large-scale field #experiment in #Wales shows that adding crushed volcanic #basalt rock dust to #soil accelerates native woodland growth.

The #nature-based method boosted #carbon capture by up to 27% in the first four years, providing an urgent tool for global #climate restoration efforts.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/how-does-magic-basalt-dust-help-plants-grow-faster-and-lock-up-more-carbon

#biology #calcium #chemistry #climatechange #conservation #ecology #forest #iron #magnesium #minerals #plants #research #rocks #science #silica #solutions #trees #uk #womeninstem #tksst #video

💁🏻‍♀️ NEW: 🌳🪨 A large-scale field #experiment in #Wales shows that adding crushed volcanic #basalt rock dust to #soil accelerates native woodland growth.

The #nature-based method boosted #carbon capture by up to 27% in the first four years, providing an urgent tool for global #climate restoration efforts.

👉 Learn more: https://seethis.tv/post/how-does-magic-basalt-dust-help-plants-grow-faster-and-lock-up-more-carbon

#biology #calcium #chemistry #climatechange #conservation #ecology #forest #iron #magnesium #minerals #plants #research #rocks #science #silica #solutions #trees #uk #womeninstem #tksst #video

Meat and dairy cuts may improve health without raising food costs

A new study suggests targeted reductions in red meat and dairy could deliver healthier, more sustainable, and more…
#NewsBeep #News #Nutrition #Calcium #cardiovasculardisease #Chronic #ClimateChange #diabetes #Diet #Fish #food #FoodProduction #Health #Iodine #Meat #Nutrients #pulses #research #UK #UnitedKingdom #Vegetables
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/695315/

Meat and dairy cuts may improve health without raising food costs

A new study suggests targeted reductions in red meat and dairy could deliver healthier, more sustainable, and more affordable diets, bu…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Food #calcium #cardiovasculardisease #chronic #climatechange #Diabetes #Fish #foodproduction #Iodine #Meat #nutrients #nutrition #pulses #Research #Vegetables
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2716220/meat-and-dairy-cuts-may-improve-health-without-raising-food-costs/

Meat and dairy cuts may improve health without raising food costs https://www.diningandcooking.com/2716220/meat-and-dairy-cuts-may-improve-health-without-raising-food-costs/ #calcium #CardiovascularDisease #chronic #ClimateChange #Diabetes #diet #Fish #food #FoodProduction #Iodine #Meat #nutrients #nutrition #pulses #Research #Vegetables

JWST Probes Rare Calcium-Strong Supernova SN 2024uj, Revealing Helium and Molecular Surprises

https://1ban.news/jwst-calcium-strong-transient-sn-2024uj/
#1ban #jwst #calcium #strong #transient #space

Children and adults who eat more live microbe-rich foods have healthier diets

A national French survey finds that foods likely to contain live microbes may be useful markers of healthier, nutrient-rich …
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Frenchdiet #calcium #children #francais #france #French #frenchdiet #nutrients #nutrition #publichealth #Research #Vegetables #vitamina #vitamind
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2706832/children-and-adults-who-eat-more-live-microbe-rich-foods-have-healthier-diets/

Children and adults who eat more live microbe-rich foods have healthier diets https://www.diningandcooking.com/2706832/children-and-adults-who-eat-more-live-microbe-rich-foods-have-healthier-diets/ #calcium #children #diet #food #francais #france #French #FrenchDiet #nutrients #nutrition #PublicHealth #Research #Vegetables #VitaminA #VitaminD

Taking vitamin D and calcium every day? Doctors reveal why supplements may not protect bones the way many believe

Bones are living tissues. They are constantly being broken down and rebuilt. This process de…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #calcium #calciumsupplements #nutrition #supplementsforbonehealth #vitamind #VitaminDsupplements
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2704929/taking-vitamin-d-and-calcium-every-day-doctors-reveal-why-supplements-may-not-protect-bones-the-way-many-believe/

Taking vitamin D and calcium every day? Doctors reveal why supplements may not protect bones the way many believe https://www.diningandcooking.com/2704929/taking-vitamin-d-and-calcium-every-day-doctors-reveal-why-supplements-may-not-protect-bones-the-way-many-believe/ #calcium #CalciumSupplements #nutrition #SupplementsForBoneHealth #VitaminD #VitaminDSupplements

🟠 🔬 There is a new sensitive orange #calcium indicator: #OCaMP

📄 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-74553-4

Highlights:
⚡ Detects single #ActionPotentials #InVivo
🔬 Optimized for 1030 nm #imaging
📸 Highly #photostable, minimal photoswitching
🌈 #Multiplex with green biosensors

#Neuroscience 👌

Vitamin D and calcium may not support bone health as much as thought: study – National

A recently released study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) is casting doubt on the longstanding belief that calcium and vitamin D intake can help prevent bone fra…
#dining #cooking #diet #food #Nutrition #BritishMedicalJournal #calcium #canada #consumer #health #nutrition #vitamind
https://www.diningandcooking.com/2671433/vitamin-d-and-calcium-may-not-support-bone-health-as-much-as-thought-study-national/

Vitamin D and calcium may not support bone health as much as thought: study – National https://www.diningandcooking.com/2671433/vitamin-d-and-calcium-may-not-support-bone-health-as-much-as-thought-study-national/ #BritishMedicalJournal #calcium #canada #consumer #health #nutrition #VitaminD

https://mastodon.social/@Karl_Theodor/116532379055710073

⚠️ #Nährstoffmangel

🌱😀 👯 #Hanfsamen sind sehr nährstoffreich, neben einem unvergleichbar hohen Anteil an #ungesättigtenFettsäuren, #Omega3 zu #Omega6 im optimalen Verhältnis, was #Entzündungen eindämmt und den #Cholesterinspiegel positiv beeinflusst, und #allenessentiellenAminosäuren, enthalten sie viel #Vitamin E, B1, B2 sowie #Mineralstoffe und #Spurenelemente wie #Calcium, #Magnesium, #Eisen, #Zink und #Kalium & viele #Ballaststoffe.

#Hunger #Welthunger #Cannabis

#BlackBeans vs. #PintoBeans: Nutrition Experts Reveal Which Is Healthier

Both beans are healthy, but they offer different key nutrients including antioxidants, potassium, and more.

By Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
Published on October 29, 2025

Key Takeaways:

- Both black beans and pinto beans are nutrient-dense and support overall health. Each provides #PlantBasedProtein, fiber, folate, potassium, and antioxidants that can help lower the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

- Black beans stand out for their antioxidant and gut health benefits. Their dark pigment is rich in #anthocyanins and phenolic compounds that help regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and promote healthy gut bacteria.

- Pinto beans edge ahead in mineral content and heart health support. They contain more potassium, #calcium, and #folate than black beans, which can help manage blood pressure and protect the heart and kidneys—making both beans valuable for different health goals."

https://www.realsimple.com/black-beans-vs-pinto-beans-11838179

#SolarPunkSunday #Vegan #Beans #DietForASmallPlanet

Again, don't do this with bare skin (use safety equipment and appropriate precautions)

#WoodAshCement

July 17, 2018, PrimitiveTechnology

"I developed an experimental cement from made only from re-fired #WoodAsh as its #cementitious material. It was mixed with crushed #terracotta as an aggregate and formed into a cube. The cement set hard after 3 days and did not dissolve in water after this period.

"Process: First I burnt bark and leaves in a kiln at high temperatures to produce well burnt, mostly white wood ash. The ash was then mixed into water and stirred well. The excess water was poured off and the resulting paste was made into pellets and allowed to dry. A pellet was then re-heated in the #forge until it glowed about orange hot. This was then taken out, cooled and dropped in a pot of water. The pellet dissolved and boiled due to a chemical reaction with the water. The paste was stirred and crushed terracotta (old tiles from previous projects) was added and mixed to form a mouldable #mortar. This was formed into a cube and allowed to set for three days (in the video, a cube made exactly the same way 3 days previously was used due to time constraints). The resultant cube was strong and made a slight ringing sound when tapped with a finger nail. It was placed in water for 24 hours to simulate a very heavy rain event and did not dissolve or release residues into the water.

"My current theory: The main component of wood ash consists of #calcium in some form (e.g. #CalciumCarbonate, #CalciumOxide). This can be up to 45% from my research. Calcium is in higher concentration in the #bark and #leaves of a tree. When the ash is mixed with water, the soluble component of wood ash (10% pot ash) dissolves into the water. But seeing that it does nothing for the cementing process, it is drained off leaving the insoluble calcium (and other components) in the paste. Doing this probably raises the relative percentage of calcium in the paste to about 50% or more. Most of the other 50 % consists of silica and alumina which are #pozzolans, materials that chemically react with calcium hydroxide to increase the durability of the cement product. The paste was then made into a pellet and fired again to high temperature to convert all the calcium compounds to calcium oxide. It also reduces any charcoal in the pellet to ash if it hadn’t already been burnt the first time. This step seemed important as un-fired ash pellets only partially hardened and would fall apart in water, though retaining a weak undissolved 5mm thick crust. I can only surmise that re-firing the ash just gave a greater conversion of the calcium components to calcium oxide. The pellet is slaked in water converting the calcium oxide to calcium hydroxide. This cement was mixed with crushed terracotta which may also help in some way that I’m not aware of as I only did this one experiment and did not test other aggregates yet (e.g. sand, gravel etc.). Terracotta is porous and might hold together better than other materials. The mixture is allowed to set in air where carbon dioxide reacts with calcium hydroxide to form calcium carbonate cementing the aggregate together. After this, the cement will not dissolve in water.

"Use: I think this material might have a potential use as a mortar holding rocks or bricks together in wet environments where #limestone or #SnailShells are unavailable for making cement. Wood ash is a pretty ubiquitous material to most natural environments inhabited by people using biomass fuels. Wood ash cement turns a waste product into a valuable building material. From my research, wood ash is already being used as a partial replacement for cement in the building industry without decreases in strength of the final product. But I’ve only just started experimenting with it and don’t know its full capabilities and limitations. Calcium content of wood ash differs depending on the species of tree, the part of the tree burnt and the soil it’s grown on. Cautious experimentation is still required before committing to a hut built from this material."

Learn more:
https://primitivetechnology.wordpress.com/2018/07/17/wood-ash-cement/

#SolarPunkSunday #DIY #Cement #Woodashes #BuildingMaterials

Making And Using #Lime #Mortars

An article originally written for "Rural Wales" the magasine of CPRW

"The operation of modern #cement and lime mortar is quite different. Cements set by a non-reversible chemical action to form a solid, non yielding mass. #LimeMortars set by the absorption of #CarbonDioxide over a much longer period of time. An understanding of the chemical action of lime is therefore helpful.

"Lime is derived from #limestone or Calcium Carbonate (#CaCO3), which has been burnt in a lime kiln at over 800 degrees centigrade to produce #quicklime or #CalciumOxide (#CaO). In this process carbon dioxide and any water is driven off. Quicklime is potentially dangerous having an avid thirst for water. This process creates a lot of heat and produces #SlakedLime or #CalciumHydroxide (Ca(OH)2). Builders merchants stock this material having been reground to a fine powder and called #HydratedLime.

"The slaking process releases enough heat to cause the water to boil or spit. For this reason water must NEVER be added to quicklime. The lime must ALWAYS be added slowly into the water in a metal container. For the inexperienced builder or home craftsman, slaking is therefore not recommended.

"#HydratedLime can be used as the basis of all lime plasters and mortars. It will slowly absorb free carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and revert to #CalciumCarbonate. A triangle has therefore been completed converting the #calcium back to its original chemical form of limestone. For this reason lime mortars have the potential for #ContinuousRecycling."

Learn more:
http://www.users.callnetuk.com/~gwynedd21/home/JN/LIME.HTM

#SolarPunkSunday #SustainableBuilding #Recyclable #Reusable #LimePlaster #LimeMortar #AncientTechnology #TraditionalTechnology #SustainableBuildingMaterials #ZeroWaste

NOTE: As someone pointed out, this is a DANGEROUS process and requires a lot of safety precautions. I would refer to other instructions with more safety measures. I posted this more for the uses of #Lime (as opposed to using tons of chemicals).

Burn #Seashell #Lime in a Primitive Straw/Clay #Kiln!

By skillcult

"In this project we use Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Animal, Vegetable and Mineral to make something with a multitude of practical uses. The text is detailed and stands alone, but the videos are very useful and entertaining. Video #1, the Quicky version, is the 7 minute general interest, entertainment version. Video #2, buildcult, is the long educational 20 minute version. I'd recommend watching the short version first, before reading this instructable, so that you have a visual reference. I did my best to make it worth 7 minutes of your life. I conceived this project for the Brave the Elements contest, which you can vote in here, hint hint.

"The goal is to build a kiln from natural materials in order to burn and slake #lime for #seashells. Lime is immensely valuable! If lime disappeared tomorrow, civilization would fall hard! It is the main ingredient in cement and can be used to make #mortar and #plaster. It can also be used in the arts for #limewash and fresco, in #Soapmaking, mixed with casein (milk protein) to make #PreIndustrial waterproof #glue and #paint, for smelting and refining metal, and to remove hair and prepare skins for rawhide, hide glue or tanning. Ever read the ingredients on your tortillas or tortilla chips and seen 'traces of lime'? That’s because lime is used in processing #corn kernels to make tortillas, hominy and grits, which is easy to do at home. Not only does it make corn more nutritious and digestible, but it also lends to the unique flavor of those products. Beet sugar is processed with lime too. Lime is also used to potentiate certain drug substances such as betel nut and coca leaves, a small bit of lime being chewed with the plant material to activate it. So, yeah, wow, lime is one of the most useful substances ever!

"A WORD ON SAFETY: A lot of people think that lime is some deadly scary chemical that will burn you face off. It’s not… not really... well, maybe. #QuickLime is dangerous, but that is a brief transient state. During #slaking, the quicklime will give off heat and boil vigorously, so that is dangerous since the stuff can splatter around and is not only hot, but also highly alkaline. So, yeah, okay, maybe doing a face plant in a boiling tub of quicklime may burn your face off. Don’t do that! Otherwise, the stuff is not that horrible, and people have been making #tortillas, mixing mortar, plastering walls and tanning leather without goggles and hazmat suits for a very long time. It is also non-toxic. You definitely don’t want your pets drinking lime water or your kids playing with lime, but that is due to it’s concentration mostly, and not to inherent toxicity. When diluted, it becomes less and less caustic and is at some point completely harmless. Once converted to #CalciumCarbonate by drying, it’s just like egg shells, sea shells or stone, not only non-toxic, but actually used as a #calcium supplement. So, don’t get it in your eyes, keep it away from children and pets, be careful when slaking and use common sense and everything will be fine. It will temporarily dry skin though skin though, so be aware of that.

"Before we get to the fun stuff, let me explain how this works. Don’t be intimidated by the chemistry terms, they aren’t important. The changes lime goes through have a name, The Lime Cycle. By heating stone or shells red hot, about 900 Celcius (called calcining), we can change lime from it’s stable inert form, calcium carbonate, into #Calciumxide. Calcium oxide, aka Qucklime, is the most unstable and highly reactive form of lime. Quicklime reacts violently with water, giving off tremendous heat and boiling vigorously. This reaction with water makes it into #CalciumHydroxide, which is similar to #lye, but not as strong. This is the form that is used the most in the arts and industries mentioned above. If the lime is kept under a layer of water, it will not only keep forever, but it improves with age! This stuff is called lime putty. You may be more familiar with the dry lime you can buy in a bag, which is dry calcium hydroxide. This bagged powdered #HydratedLime is widely available, but inferior to wet #SlakedLime putty. You can hardly buy lime putty, and it is very expensive, but you can make it! For more on the forms of lime see my article, Understanding Lime.

"Basically, #LimePutty is like liquid rocks. Once it is allowed to dry with exposure to air, it absorbs carbon from the atmosphere and turns back into a hard rock (or shell, which is pretty much the same thing). Think about that for a second. That is awesome!

"And thus the lime cycle is completed from rock or shell, to quicklime, to lime putty, and back to rock/shell.

"In my book, it doesn't get much funner than burning and slaking lime, so lets get this party started!"

Learn more:
https://www.instructables.com/Burn-Seashell-Lime-in-a-Primitive-StrawClay-Kiln/

#SolarPunkSunday #OldTech #LowTech #LoTech #DIY #TraditionalTechnology
#AncientTechnology #CalciumCarbonate #TraditionalMortar #History #HistoricalMethods #OldTech #SeashellLime

#Nixtamalization

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Nixtamalization (/ˌnɪʃtəməlɪˈzeɪʃən, ˌnɪks-/ nish-tə-mə-lih-ZAY-shən) is a process for the preparation of maize (corn), or other grain, in which the grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater (but sometimes aqueous alkali metal carbonates),washed, and then hulled. The term can also refer to the removal via an alkali process of the pericarp from other grains such as sorghum.

"#NixtamalizedCorn has several benefits over unprocessed grain: It is more easily ground, its nutritional value is increased, flavor and aroma are improved, and mycotoxins are reduced by up to 97–100% (for aflatoxins).

"Lime and #ash are highly alkaline: the alkalinity helps the dissolution of hemicellulose, the major glue-like component of the maize cell walls, and loosens the hulls from the kernels and softens the #maize. The tryptophan in corn proteins is made more available for human absorption, thus helping to prevent niacin deficiency (pellagra).  Tryptophan is the metabolic precursor of endogenous niacin (Vitamin B3).

"Some of the corn oil is broken down into emulsifying agents (monoglycerides and diglycerides), while bonding of the maize proteins to each other is also facilitated. The divalent calcium in lime acts as a cross-linking agent for protein and polysaccharide acidic side chains.

"While cornmeal made from untreated ground maize is unable by itself to form a dough on addition of water, nixtamalized cornmeal will form a dough, called #masa. These benefits make nixtamalization a crucial preliminary step for further processing of maize into food products, and the process is employed using both traditional and industrial methods in the production of #tortillas and #TortillaChips (but not corn chips), #tamales, #hominy, and many other foodstuffs.

Etymology

"In the #Aztec language Nahuatl, the word for the product of this procedure is #nixtamalli or #nextamalli (pronounced [niʃtaˈmalːi] or [neʃtaˈmalːi]), which in turn has yielded Mexican Spanish #nixtamal ([nistaˈmal]). The Nahuatl word is a compound of nextli "lime ashes" and tamalli "unformed/cooked corn dough, tamal". The term #nixtamalization can also be used to describe the removal of the pericarp from any grain by an #alkali process, including maize, #sorghum, and others. When the unaltered Spanish spelling nixtamalización is used in written English, however, it almost exclusively refers to maize.

"The labels on packages of commercially sold tortillas prepared with nixtamalized maize usually list corn treated with #lime as an ingredient in English, while the Spanish versions list maíz nixtamalizado.

Impact on health

"The primary nutritional benefits of nixtamalization arise from the alkaline processing involved. The processing renders the protein more digestible, allowing tryptophan to be absorbed by humans. Humans can convert tryptophan into niacin, thus helping to prevent pellagra. Other measures of protein quality are also improved.  It was originally thought that the anti-pellagra action stems from increased availability of niacin (compared to a hemicellulose-bound form called "niacytin"), but multiple experiments have disproven this theory.

"Secondary benefits can arise from the grain's absorption of minerals from the alkali used or from the vessels used in preparation. These effects can increase #calcium (by 750%, with 85% available for absorption), iron, copper, and zinc.[4]

"Nixtamalization significantly deactivates #mycotoxins which are putative carcinogens. #Aflatoxins are reduced by 90–94%. Fumonisins are reduced by 82%."

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixtamalization

#SolarPunkSunday #NativeAmericanFoods #NativeAmericanHistory #Corn #BlueCorn #MesoAmerica #TraditionalFoods #CulinaryAsh #CalciumCarbonate #History #FoodHistory #Corn #PlantAshes

Something both the #Hopi and #Romans (and other cultures) shared -- using plant-based ashes in food and medicine!

#GladiatorGatorade? Ancient Athletes Had A Recovery Drink, Too

by Maria Godoy, October 27, 2014

Excerpt: "#PlantAshes were evidently consumed to fortify the body after physical exertion, and to promote better bone healing,' Fabian Kanz, a forensic anthropologist at the Medical University of Vienna who led the research, said in a statement. 'Things were similar then to what we do today."

"Evidence for this ancient dietary supplement comes from a second-century cemetery for gladiators in what was once the great Roman city of Ephesus, in modern-day Turkey. Kanz and his colleagues have been studying the remains buried there to unravel how these athletes lived. To figure out what they ate, the researchers examined the remains of 22 gladiators using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratio analysis.

"Carbon can tell us about the plants these people ate, while nitrogen offers hints of their animal protein consumption. The gladiators were eating a pretty varied diet, the analysis showed. Some went heavier on the #grains and #greens; some ate more meat.

"When the same tests were run on the remains of 31 regular folks from that era and region, they found the same sorts of variation. In other words, gladiators seemed to be eating the same way as everyone else.

"But the researchers also decided to look at the trace elements of strontium and calcium in those old bones. And that's where a huge difference jumped out. Compared with the regular Joes, the gladiators had a much larger ratio of strontium to calcium.

" 'This is strong evidence that the gladiators were consuming something high in calcium to replenish their calcium stores that other people weren't and that didn't show up in the isotopes,' says Kristina Killgrove, a biological anthropologist at the University of West Florida who studies imperial Rome through ancient bones.

"The researchers wondered: If the gladiators weren't eating more meat than their contemporaries, then where was this calcium boost coming from? A nearly 2,000-year-old encyclopedia offered a tantalizing clue.

"In his #NaturalisHistoria, published in the first century, #PlinyTheElder wrote: 'Your #hearth should be your #MedicineChest. Drink #lye made from its ashes, and you will be cured. One can see how gladiators after a combat are helped by drinking this.'

"Using ash in food and medicine wasn't limited to the Romans. The #Hopis used ash from burned plant leaves and pea pods to prepare #BlueCornmeal foods like #PikiBread and #BivilvikiDumplings. The ash provided essential elements like #calcium, #manganese, #copper and #iron."

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/10/27/357903336/gladiator-gatorade-ancient-athletes-also-had-a-recovery-drink

#SolarPunkSunday #LowTech
#BoneHealth #History #RecoveryDrink
#Histodon #HistoricalRecipes
#ThirstQuenching #BlueCorn #TraditionalRecipes #CulinaryAsh