| ~
osteoporosis
~ bone
fracture
~
arthritis
~ fibromyalgia
~ tooth
decay
~
kidney stones |
~ loss of bone mass
~ deterioration of cartilage
~ osteoarthritis and joint pain
~ nerve, muscle and back pain
~ stress and anxiety
~ bone spurs and heel spurs |
Calcium is consumed in metabolism. If insufficient calcium of
the right type is not provided by intake, the body will take calcium
from the bones to feed cells and protect the nerves. This is when
calcium deficiency is becoming serious.
Once this begins, there can be a great amount of calcium released
into the bloodstream, which can foster deposits such as bone spurs and
kidney stones. At the same time, deficiency of calcium is masked in
blood tests by the higher levels of calcium in the blood.
The Right Calcium
Dietary minerals need to be organic, ionically-bonded in a food form,
or properly chelated in a food molecule. The best sources are
organically-grown fresh fruits, vegetables and superfoods.
As a supplemental
alternative, "chelated" minerals are offered by the
marketplace. In a special laboratory process these have been
chemically-bonded with an agent that the body recognizes as
food.
(NOTE: The
term "chemical" does not only apply to synthetic chemicals. It refers to
any interactions between elements and compounds, whether synthetic, natural,
inorganic or organic. Everything in the body is a "chemical" compound with
chemical bonds. Natural biological processes in the body are "biochemical"
reactions.)
"Chelated" minerals,
those bonded with food
acids, are known to be better absorbed in the human body as they are recognized
as food substances.
The forms of chelated calcium available are: calcium aspartate (an amino acid chelate), calcium lactate (the form
found in raw milk and dairy products), calcium citrate (chelated with
citric acid as found in citrus fruits), calcium gluconate
(chelated with gluconic acid), calcium orotate (chelated with
orotic acid), calcium ascorbate (chelated with ascorbic
acid), and calcium malate (chelated with malic acid).
Although lab chelated minerals are better absorbed than "rock
dust form", such as calcium carbonate and dolomite, or ground oyster
shells, usually chelated minerals are not as good as those in plant form.
The Wrong Calcium
I DO NOT recommend the many
"calcium added" food products such as orange juice, soy milk and cereals
with extra calcium. This is most often not well-absorbed calcium,
and there is a danger of getting too much calcium, as described below.
I especially DO NOT recommend calcium carbonate,
dolomite, di-calcium phosphate, tri-calcium phosphate, oyster shell or bone
meal as calcium supplements. "Antiacid"
products touted for calcium are of the lowest quality and should be avoided.
None of these provide well absorbed calcium.
You have probably heard about
"coral calcium". Now that coral calcium has been
marketed for a while, and gained a lot of attention, there is plenty of
information based on
independent analysis that shows that coral
calcium is
not the good stuff it is made out to be.
(NOTE: If you would like to read my
article, "Not Coral Calcium",
contact us to
request for it.)
In the way of foods, as you know, dairy products are
promoted (by the dairy producers) as the main foods for calcium.
However, dairy foods often actually lower bone density.
Milk is usually homogenized, making it poorly digested.
Further, milk and other dairy items are almost always pasteurized and
often used in cooking, making them less well-digested and less
nutritious, and more acidifying and mucus-forming in the body. So milk
and dairy foods are not digested well, and the calcium in them is has
been ruined and is less available than in vegetable sources.
TOO
MUCH CALCIUM, especially if it is inorganic calcium, may contribute to male prostate problems and
cancer, according to recent research. It is thought
that the high calcium uses up vitamin D, leaving an
insufficient amount for other uses.
Further,
extra calcium consumption is not necessarily helpful for
osteoporosis. Results from seven
different research projects have indicated
that there are no significant reductions in bone fractures
from increasing intake of calcium.
In regard to
osteoporosis, studies have shown that both consuming
a lot of milk and dairy products AND taking
supplemental calcium have resulted in GREATER
incidence of
osteoporosis! The countries with the most
per capita
calcium consumption have the greatest rates
of
osteoporosis.
It
is likely that these results are based on the use of common
inorganic calcium supplements and pasteurized or cooked milk and dairy
products. See below for
information on ways of getting good, effective calcium.
As
reported in the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition back in 1985, the National Dairy Council
sponsored a study which showed that the more milk women took
in, the greater their bone loss!
Calcium Knowledge
It has been established that
the most significant causes of osteoporosis are soda pop and coffee
consumption, smoking and physical inactivity. These
contribute to over acidity of the body, which erodes
bone calcium.
Further, the phosphorus in colas can
impede the absorption
and use of calcium.
Over acidity
is an unhealthy condition behind many of the illness problems that are
rampant. If there is not enough good ORGANIC calcium in the
diet, the body will steal it from the bones and teeth, and
even the nerves as a last resort, to keep the blood from going too acid.
Otherwise one would die.
If needed to protect the sensitive
nerve tissues, calcium will be drawn from the bones and teeth
for that too. Osteoporosis results from the body leaching
calcium from skeletal tissues for these crucial needs.
Soda pop and
coffee are the worst acidifiers for most people. Stronger bones, stronger
teeth, stronger heart and calmer nerves would be more likely just by
avoiding these beverages.
Most
toxins are acidic. The resulting free radicals use up
essential oxygen and leave us vulnerable to acute infections,
and chronic degenerative diseases such as heart disease and
cancer. By alkalizing, we neutralize the toxic acids, and
free up oxygen. We can reduce illness and prevent
osteoporosis.
Bone
Density
The most valuable
thing for increasing bone density is exercise, even simple
walking. Exercise is more important than either
the consumption
of dairy products or common calcium supplements in terms of
improving or maintaining bone density and preventing
osteoporosis.
New research
suggests that potassium and magnesium as found in vegetables and fruits
may be more crucial to healthy stronger bones
than calcium, especially the lesser quality calcium many consume. There is a significant correlation
between high levels of fruit and vegetable intake and bone
density, unlike the NEGATIVE correlation with consuming dairy
products and poorly absorbable calcium supplements.
The traditional emphasis on higher calcium than magnesium is
also distorted. Most calcium products provide magnesium in
them, as supplemental calcium tends to bind up magnesium in
the intestines. There has long been evidence that the
magnesium level in supplements should be higher than
calcium. More recently researchers have determined that the
magnesium should be far higher.
Why are vitamin D & magnesium
usually recommended to be taken with calcium? These may
or may not be needed with the calcium.
Vitamin D helps absorption
of less absorbable calcium forms in the intestine. Most people are deficient in
vitamin D due to too little exposure to the sun. We are indoors a
lot, and out of concern for skin cancer, when we go out we often use
sunscreen to protect against skin damage, which blocks the UVB rays needed to act on
the skin to form vitamin D.
In the normally alkaline pH of the small
intestine, inorganic minerals tend to attract each other and
form a sediment which itself is even more poorly absorbed.
Thus the commonly used inorganic calcium actually reduces the absorption of
other minerals, especially magnesium. Extra magnesium
is often suggested with calcium to prevent other magnesium
in the diet from being blocked by the
calcium.
Poorly
Absorbed Calcium
The Recommended
Daily Allowance (RDA) for calcium is 1200 mg for ages 11-24, and 800 mg. for
those over 30. This refers to the amount of "elemental calcium" in the
diet. Calcium is highly interactive with other elements, and is almost
always found in a compound. The body must separate the elemental
calcium out of these compounds to make it available to cells.
Research has shown
that the body's cells can only utilize about 12.5 mg. of pure ORGANIC
calcium in a day for their metabolism. The vast difference between the
RDA figures and the small amount actually used suggests how poorly
absorbable most calcium is. What happens to all the excess calcium from
the poorly absorbed calcium supplements that people are taking to try to get
the RDA?
Most of this
calcium is not absorbed and remains in the
intestine, perhaps contributing to the formation of cement-like deposits
there. The excess of calcium that does get absorbed may form deposits in the body,
and could block other crucially-needed minerals from getting into cells.
And what about the cheap forms of calcium being added to orange juice, soy
milk and other food products?
It is definitely possible to take
too much of wrong types of calcium. The calcium in most
supplements is common inexpensive rock dust. Rock forms
of inorganic calcium, including calcium carbonate (chalk), oyster
shell, dolomite, di-calcium phosphate, and "coral calcium",
are extremely poorly absorbed. An
excess of such forms of calcium would bind up magnesium in the
intestine, possibly throw off blood calcium levels, potentially form
deposits in joints and other tissues, and could disturb the nerves,
which also need calcium.
The reason that
conventional mineral supplements do not contain the RDA of calcium along
with the RDA's of all the other minerals is that either the tablets or
capsules would be too large to swallow, or you would have to take so
many of them at once that it would be overwhelming.
A further problem is that
calcium supplements of naturally occurring compounds such as
dolomite, bone meal, oyster shell or coral calcium may contain heavy
metals such as lead or mercury. At the moment, calcium products are not
tested by any regulatory agency for heavy metal content. Therefore, it's
best to avoid these for this reason as well.
Calcium
in Foods
Foods organically-grown on good
soil have a far better mineral profile than those
grown on deficient chemically-fertilized farms.
Carrots, broccoli and sesame seeds, organically-grown well,
are some of the richest plant foods in calcium, yet they do not have
anything near the calcium levels that people are trying to take in through
supplements.
Also wheat,
barley and kamut grass juices, fresh or in cold-dried powder
form, are the most alkalizing of nutritional supplements, providing an
array of organic minerals, including calcium AND magnesium. Not
only wheat grass; wheat germ is also a good food source of organic
minerals.
CLICK HERE for my web pages about wheat
germ & wheat grass.
Properly-raised spirulina, a highly
nutritious edible algae, is one of the best
superfoods as well. 16 grams of Spirulina contains as much calcium as 16
grams of milk. It has 300% more calcium than found in chicken, and
is a superior source of protein to meat, dairy products, soy products,
or any other food. It is also rich in magnesium.
CLICK HERE for my web page about spirulina.
The calcium and other bone-building
minerals in organic foods and
superfoods are far superior to the
inorganic and poorly absorbed calcium from coral, oyster
shell, bone meal, dolomite (from limestone), di-calcium
phosphate, tri-calcium phosphate or pure calcium
carbonate (chalk), sold for many years in cheaply-made
products to the calcium-seeking public.
Further, minerals are synergistic. For
example, the trace mineral boron is needed for helping to
retain calcium. And silica can be transmuted and form calcium
as needed if the body is functioning well.
A variety of minerals are present together in
vegetables and superfoods.
However, the minerals are only a
portion of what is present there, along with vitamins, enzymes, pigments and
phytonutrients. However, the minerals in the normal intake of vegetables and superfoods would not be all you would need.
What about milk
and dairy products, the foods that have been touted for years as a source of
calcium. The calcium level in cow's milk is for supporting the structure of
an animal that could weigh almost a ton! This is not an appropriate
level of calcium for a human. And the calcium in dairy products,
altered by pasteurization, does
not absorb well in humans.
CLICK HERE
for information and/or to order eZorb,
the best absorbed calcium
(best choice for
those with known deficiency problems)
CLICK
HERE
for information and/or to order
well-absorbed Nature's Sea Calcium,
a natural food source calcium
from the sea
(fine for those with normal calcium needs)
Special Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an essential nutrient
important for bone strength. It is also needed for immune health. The
body can make vitamin D from exposure of the skin to sunlight. However,
most people do not get enough sun, especially in the winter.
Therefore, vitamin D deficiency is
very common, which contributes to bone loss and immune weakness.
The recommended U. S. "Daily Value"
for vitamin D is 400 I. U., but research has shown that this amount is
not enough. It is expected that the recommendation will be raised soon.
We have a vitamin D available that
has 2000 I. U., the amount that studies now suggest is appropriate for
maintenance of good health.
This unique natural vitamin D3 is
from the lanolin in the wool of BSE-free sheep in New Zealand and
Australia.
CLICK HERE to order 60 tablets of 2000
IU natural Vitamin D3 for $8.97 + $3 postage.
Important Note About Other Minerals
Calcium is not the only mineral your body needs.
Extra magnesium should usually be taken when extra
calcium is, to keep the proper magnesium levels in the body's cells.
CLICK HERE for more information on
magnesium.
CLICK HERE to read more about minerals in general.
Really good calcium together with extra ionic magnesium,
and superior ionic minerals and other
nutrients, should gradually help your
body be the strongest it can be.
Outstanding Supplemental Multi-Mineral
A superior multi-mineral product provides
ionic plant-source organic minerals
as well as ionic minerals derived from the ocean, and fulvic acids.
These minerals are available for maximum utilization by the body.
Just 15-20 drops three or four times per day diluted in juice or water
will provide
a whole range of totally absorbable minerals in proper proportion that will meet the daily needs of the
your
cells so they can do their jobs.
The RDA figures for calcium and other minerals are based on the knowledge
that very little will be absorbed. 60-80 drops of this supplement does not
approach these amounts, yet will supply ideal minerals, as they are fully absorbed.
You must have the foundation of the whole spectrum of minerals to have
ideally healthy bones, teeth, nerves and other tissues. Most often
someone who is deficient in calcium would likely be deficient in other
minerals as well.
The minerals in almost every multivitamin product are not very good for
absorption and use. In fact, most of the mineral products, including
the liquid colloidal or "ionic" ones, are still not adequate.
The minerals I recommend really provide the
cells with what they need. This product has an extraordinarily high
concentration of fulvic acids, organic compounds found in the soil
and plants which enhance the delivery and use of minerals throughout
living systems.
It would be a waste of money to buy one of the common multivitamin /
mineral products on the market, as most of these contain synthetic
vitamins and inorganic minerals.
These minerals represent a new
advancement in nutrition of MAJOR importance.
(Forget about coral calcium, chelated minerals, colloidal minerals, and
other multimineral products!)
CLICK HERE
to check
out this great ionic, fulvic acid rich multi-mineral product and to order
