Coral Calcium – The answer to how do you spell HYPE?

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Coral Calcium – The answer to how do you spell HYPE?

http://www.doctormurray.com/articles/CoralCalcium.htm

Introduction

 

As one of the leading proponents of natural products, I am a firm

believer in the value of proper nutritional supplementation. Over

the years, however, I have been angered by the shameless marketing

of bogus products with unsubstantiated, absolutely ridiculous

claims. The latest in this growing list of shame is " coral calcium. "

Since I am fielding an ever growing number of questions about this

product, I have decided to finally address it formally. Be patient,

read the whole article and you will hopefully see that while it is

true that calcium is an essential mineral, coral calcium is not

quality calcium supplement.

 

What is coral?

 

Coral is composed of tiny, fragile living organisms called coral

polyps. The coral polyps take calcium carbonate or limestone from

the sea and build protective structures around themselves. As coral

polyps die, new generations of coral polyps then grow on top of the

coral and coral reefs are formed.

 

While coral reefs cover less than 1% of the planet's surface, they

are homes to over 25% of all marine life (over 4,000 different

species of fish, 700 species of coral, and thousands of other plants

and animals). Since coral reefs are among the world's most fragile

and endangered ecosystems, strict laws are enforced to preserve

them.

 

What is coral calcium?

 

Since it is severely illegal to mine " live " coral reefs, coral

calcium has to come from a different source. So what is the source?

Marketers tell us that it is either taken from old seabeds buried in

the so-called " pristine " desert; or mined from " fossilized coral

sands that accumulated on the sea floor; " or harvested from " only

coral that washes up on the shore. " Sounds good, right? The bottom

line, however, is that it doesn't make much difference.

 

What is the hype?

 

What the marketers of coral calcium do is exploit and exaggerate the

known importance and function of calcium and then try to tie those

benefits and more to their product. Here is just a brief list of the

diseases claimed to be miraculously cured by coral calcium:

 

Cancer Diabetes Arthritis

Heart Disease Osteoporosis Eczema

Alzheimer's Disease Fibromyalgia High Cholesterol

Muscle Cramps Kidney Stones Gallstones

Gout Indigestion Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Lupus Hiatal Hernia Hypertension

Headaches and many, many more.

 

Wow!! Wouldn't it be fantastic if it were true that coral calcium

could cure all of these diseases? While it is true that in most of

these diseases you can find a small, indirect association between

calcium and the disease, the marketers take it way over the top.

 

Is coral calcium a superior form of calcium?

Sorry, it is not. The calcium content of coral calcium ranges from

24% to 38% and is composed primarily of calcium carbonate. The

marketers often call it " aragonite " or " calcite " to confuse and

mislead the masses into thinking it is something different than the

chief ingredient of Tums. Marketers use the " coral story " to hype

their product, but just like mined land sources of calcium (e.g.,

limestone and dolomite), the bottom line here is that the calcium is

bound in the form of an inorganic salt.

 

There are considerable dangers of using these mined sources of

calcium, whether it comes above sea level or below, or whether the

source is fossilized coral, limestone, or dolomite. What is the

danger? For millions of years, volcanoes have been spewing their

molten lava and ash full of poisonous heavy metals like lead,

mercury, cadmium and iridium. Although I have not seen a detailed

analysis of heavy metals for a coral calcium product, even the

marketers acknowledge the high content of aluminum by stating that

their product contains montmorillonite. Some will tell us that

montmorillonite is a natural clay that comes from volcanic ash.

Others will come clean and recognize it as colloidal aluminum

silicate.

 

I should point out that there has been one study comparing the

absorption of coral calcium to calcium carbonate.1 However, this

study is fraught with methodological errors and used urinary calcium

measurements instead of more accurate measurements of calcium

absorption – after all it is not how much calcium that you excrete

that is important, it is how much you absorb and retain. No

conclusions can be made from this study as it looks like it was

constructed simply to promote coral calcium instead of answering

more important questions.

 

Why should I avoid natural sources of calcium?

 

Again, the major problem is lead contamination. This issue has been

addressed in numerous studies looking at commercial calcium

supplements.2,3 In one study, the lead content of 136 brands of

calcium supplements was determined.2 The calcium in the products was

derived from natural sources (bonemeal, dolomite, or oyster shell)

or was synthesized and/or refined (chelated and nonchelated calcium

such as calcium citrate and carbonate). Two-thirds of those calcium

supplements failed to meet the acceptable lead levels (1.5

microg/daily dose of calcium) in consumer products. The most likely

products to contain lead were the natural forms, while the products

most likely not to contain lead with products like calcium citrate

or refined (purified) calcium carbonate. The results from this study

are consistent with all of the others. It is quite alarming as lead

from calcium supplements definitely contributes to elevated lead

levels in the body.4

 

So what is the best form of calcium?

 

The bottom line is that they most widely used form calcium

carbonate - appears suitable for most people.5,6 The possible

exception is in people who do not produce enough stomach acid,

especially post-menopausal women.7 But, even in these people it

appears that by taking the calcium carbonate with food that this

shortcoming can be overcome.

 

While calcium bound to citrate and other Krebs cycle intermediates

such as fumarate, malate, succinate, and aspartate as well as

lactate have advantages over calcium carbonate in that they are (a)

easily ionized, (b) almost completely degraded and utilized by the

body, © virtually non toxic, and (d) able to increase the

absorption of not only calcium, but other minerals as well; the

problem with these calcium supplements is their bulk – it basically

requires three to four times as many capsules or tablets to provide

the same level of calcium compared to calcium carbonate sources.

 

It is also important to point out that microcrystalline calcium

hydroxyapatite – another hyped form of calcium - does not provide

any greater benefit than other forms of calcium including calcium

carbonate. In fact, in one study looking at five commercially

available forms of calcium, microcrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite

was the poorest absorbed.8

 

Advantages and disadvantages of the various forms of calcium

 

Form Disadvantages Advantages

Calcium carbonate May not be adequately absorbed in people with

insufficient output of stomach acid. Should be taken with foods for

maximal absorption. Inexpensive. Easier to take because it is not as

bulky as other forms.

Coral calcium, oyster shell calcium, dolomite, and bone meal May

contain high levels of lead and other impurities. Since these

sources of calcium are essentially calcium carbonate, it makes more

sense to used purified calcium carbonate products. None.

Calcium citrate; calcium bound to other Krebs cycle intermediates;

calcium gluconate; calcium lactate Larger molecule is bulkier than

calcium carbonate thus requiring more tablets/capsules to achieve

the same dosage as calcium carbonate. Easily absorbed regardless of

the output of stomach acid.

Calcium phosphate Poorly absorbed compared to other forms. Has a

greater effect in blocking the absorption of iron and other

minerals. Least likely to cause constipation.

Microcrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite Poorly absorbed compared to

other forms. More expensive. May exert additional benefits in bone

health due to other components.

 

 

References:

 

1. Ishitani K, Itakura E, Goto S, Esashi T. Calcium absorption from

the ingestion of coral-derived calcium by humans. J Nutr Sci

Vitaminol (Tokyo) 1999;45:509-17.

2. Scelfo GM, Flegal AR. Lead in calcium supplements. Environ Health

Perspect 2000;108:309-19.

3. Ross EA, Szabo NJ, Tebbett IR. Lead content of calcium

supplements. JAMA 2000;284:1425-9.

4. Gulson BL, Mizon KJ, Palmer JM, Korsch MJ, Taylor AJ.

Contribution of lead from calcium supplements to blood lead. Environ

Health Perspect 2001;109:283-8.

5. Heaney RP, Dowell SD, Bierman J, Hale CA, Bendich A.

Absorbability and cost effectiveness in calcium supplementation. J

Am Coll Nutr 2001;20:239-46.

6. Sakhaee K, Bhuket T, Adams-Huet B, Rao DS. Meta-analysis of

calcium bioavailability: a comparison of calcium citrate with

calcium carbonate. Am J Ther 1999;6:313-21.

7. Heller HJ, Greer LG, Haynes SD, Poindexter JR, Pak CY.

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic comparison of two calcium

supplements in postmenopausal women. J Clin Pharmacol 2000;40:1237-

44.

8. Deroisy R, Zartarian M, Meurmans L, et al. Acute changes in serum

calcium and parathyroid hormone circulating levels induced by the

oral intake of five currently available calcium salts in healthy

male volunteers. Clin Rheumatol 1997;16:249-53.

_________________

 

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DietaryTipsForHBP

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