| CORAL CALCIUM GETS BEACHED By Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc. The expert radio doctor says coral calcium remedies just about everything, from what ails you to what fails you. It's what makes the people on Okinawa live so long, he says. Buy it now, it's coral calcium, and it's loaded with 73 other trace minerals that your body needs. More and more minerals must be good for you. In fact, better than 97 percent of coral calcium is available to be absorbed compared to no more than 40 percent from other calcium supplements. So coral calcium is a big breakthrough. Or is it? According to those who hawk coral calcium on TV and radio infomercials, you may need to consume as much as one gallon of milk a day to 23 pounds of spinach to get enough calcium. Better to take coral calcium than attempt to eat all that food. Not only is coral calcium a superior form of mineral, they say, but it can help you live longer, as long as Mr. Shigechiyo Izumi of Okinawa who lived to the spry age of 115 years. Yet there are as many as 25,000 centenarians in the USA and they never consumed coral calcium and consumed relatively low amounts of calcium over their lifetime. Even most Okinawans don't know what coral calcium supplements are, since they get their calcium from calcium-rich drinking water, not from pills. Oh, the expert doctor says only coral calcium can help alkalize your body. Actually every form of calcium is alkaline and shifts the body away from an acid state. Coral calcium is not unique in that respect. Ditto for magnesium. No question, calcium is an integral component of bone and has been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer and may have other health benefits. But does the all-knowing doctor on the radio tell you that human populations that consume the most calcium have the highest mortality rates in the world? The Scandinavian countries, the USA and New Zealand are the dairy consuming countries and mortality rates soar in these countries compared to Japan and Portugal where the consumption of calcium from dairy products is the lowest on the planet and so are the mortality rates. [International Journal Cardiology, Volume 33, 1991] Robert Barefoot, the popular "scientist" advocate for coral calcium and author of a book on the topic, claims there are 200 degenerative diseases caused by calcium deficiency. If this were so, the Masai tribesmen of Africa who consume large amounts of calcium would be free of these diseases. They are not. Barefoot claims calcium is the "biological glue" of the body. In fact, collagen along with hyaluronic acid is the glue that holds the body's connective tissue together, that is why it is called connective tissue. Calcium is essential and it is found in all cells, but it only provides structure in the bone matrix, not in soft tissues. Barefoot claims there are seven human cultures that "never, ever, ever get sick." They live 30 to 40 years longer. He says the reason for this is that they all consume 100 times the recommended daily allowance of every nutrient. Really? One hundred times the iron would rust the entire body. One hundred times the recommended amount of calcium would be virtually impossible to obtain from the diet. One hundred times the manganese would produce massive toxicity. One hundred times the zinc requirement would be about 1000 milligrams per day. No known human culture consumes that much zinc. Barefoot's statement is patently false. Barefoot says 92 percent of hysterectomies would be unnecessary by taking calcium supplements. Yet there is no study cited to back up this claim. Barefoot claims a muscle cramp is caused by a lack of calcium. Yet 8 in 10 Americans are short on magnesium intake and it is magnesium that relaxes smooth muscles. There is a balance between calcium and magnesium to establish muscle tone. Calcium may mask a magnesium shortage. There is another side to calcium the coral calcium advocates don't tell you about. Calcium can accumulate in heart valves (mitral valve), a condition that strikes 1 in 11 Americans. It can become a concretion in the kidneys and become a stone, a condition that affects 1 in 12 Americans. While some studies indicate increased calcium intake may help reduce the risk of kidney stones, a recent study suggests calcium stone formers should consume water "relatively low in calcium" and calcium-rich meals should be avoided. [Urology International, Volume 67, 2001] Calcium can also pile up in blood vessels. Calcium artery scans are now performed to diagnose arteriosclerosis. Calcifications can block the circulation to the back of the eyes too. Oh yes, calcium builds strong bones, in growing children. But the osteoporosis of adulthood is not caused by a shortage of dietary calcium, but by the loss of calcium from the bones due to hormonal changes and other factors such as weight bearing, diet (high protein and sodium intake) and other nutritional factors. Putting more calcium in the body while more is being lost from the bones may be futile. Women in Japan who consume marginal amounts of calcium are often bent over in their later years of life as the bones soften, but their rate of hip fracture is many times lower than American women. This may be due to the relatively low consumption of sodium in the Japanese diet (~1500 milligrams per day) compared to Americans (~4000 milligrams per day). Sodium competes with calcium for absorption. American women may require far more calcium than women in Asian cultures. Women with low protein and sodium intake may need as little as 500 milligrams of calcium per day (about the amount Japanese women consume), whereas women with high protein and sodium consumption may need as much as 2000 milligrams of calcium per day. [Principles Bone Biology, 2nd edition, Robert P. Heaney, 2002] While a number of studies involving calcium supplements appear to show a benefit, in a 1991 study 3000 milligrams of calcium per day only slowed down the rate of bone loss, it didn't prevent it. [Journal Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism, Volume 73, 1991] So a woman can consume a lot of calcium and still fail a bone density test. What is overlooked by those who formulate calcium supplements is that the government recommendation for calcium, 1200 to 1500 milligrams per day, is supposed to be obtained from the diet plus supplements. The dairy-rich American diet already provides about 800 milligrams of calcium, so for menopausal women, maybe only 400 to 600 milligrams are needed from supplements. Most of the calcium supplements on the market provide the full daily requirement in one serving. Pressured by the growing rate of hip fractures that are often mortal to American women of very advanced age (and by the dairy industry), government health officials were obliged to come up with a remedy. They recommended 1200-1500 milligrams of calcium daily intake in a massive unproven experiment in human health. [Nutrition, volume 11, 1995] The safety margin between recommended intake (1200-1500 mg) and the upper safe intake level (2000 mg) is not very wide. Many American women are already over-dosing on calcium. Some American women consume as much as 3800 milligrams of calcium. Side effects begin at about 2000 milligrams per day. Excessive calcium can induce anxiety reactions and increase vulnerability to stress. The promoters of coral calcium say there is no problem with getting too much calcium and cite the Masai tribe in Africa that consumes about 6000 milligrams per day, mostly from milk. However, the Masai only live to about 40 years of age, not nearly the longevity of people on the island of Okinawa where coral calcium originates. Furthermore, the Masai consume plenty of whole grains loaded with phytic acid (IP6) which chelates and controls minerals like calcium. Additionally, one study found 62 percent of Masai had lactose intolerance. Thus, Masai may not absorb calcium very well. [American Journal Clinical Nutrition, April 1979] |
 |
 |