Dr. Siegal's goal was to create a healthful snack food that was great-tasting, convenient, and high in calcium. Also, as an obesity expert, he was adamant that his new cookie had to provide more dietary calcium per calorie than other foods. After researching various sources of calcium, Dr. Siegal chose calcium carbonate and developed a patent-pending formula that provides 30% of the Daily Value of calcium per 37 calorie cookie, or 90% per three-cookie serving.

"Keep in mind that I've devoted more than 50 years of my life to helping people lose weight. Therefore, although it's not a weight-loss product, a fundamental requirement of our new cookie was that it had to deliver more dietary calcium per calorie than other foods. By providing 30% of the adult calcium requirement with a 37 calorie cookie, I'm happy to say that we achieved that goal," added Dr. Siegal.

According to Dr. Siegal, one would have to consume about 125 calories of 2% milk or 291 calories of 2% cottage cheese to get the same amount of calcium provided by one 37 calorie CalciOs?„? cookie.

"The greatest challenge in creating the product was trying to pack a significant percentage of the Daily Value of calcium into a 10 gram cookie and still make it enjoyable to eat," explained Dr. Siegal. "It's easy to make a great cookie until you add 750mg of calcium carbonate to it. Calcium carbonate is a wonderful, natural substance but it's a gritty and chalky powder. Yet, through trial and error, I created a formula that produces a delicious cookie with a smooth texture and mouth feel."

Calcium carbonate is a natural substance found throughout the world in limestone, pearls, and eggshells. Its uses include baking, calcium supplementation, and heartburn relief.

"Calcium carbonate is a versatile substance. In our cookie, it provides supplemental dietary calcium. It also neutralizes stomach acid that can cause heartburn. Of course, our cookie is a snack food and isn't intended to be used to relieve chronic or severe heartburn which may indicate a medical problem," said Dr. Siegal. "Anyone who experiences frequent or severe heartburn should consult a doctor."

SOURCE Dr. Siegal & Son, LLC