HOW EFFECTIVE IS YOUR CALCIUM UPTAKE?
No 2 in a series
© Colin Addison

First published in Soul Seekers February/March 2007

Truth has been overwhelmed by fiction in our world of health. For proponents, there will be vehement opponents resulting in endless confusion and, ultimately, personal decisions based on whatever 'facts’ we may discern from ‘fictions’. Too harsh a statement? Can you state categorically that the body’s calcium needs will be met by cows milk in all its varieties of persuasive packaging? If you were to do so, chances are you would be quite wrong.

Over several years, my personal interest has been to assess sources other than dairy even though I was brought up on ‘milk and honey’ perhaps because of my mother’s faith in the Biblical quote “[the land] flowing with milk and honey”. Yet in today’s environment that faith is grossly misplaced. Right now, controversy rages in the USA over “marine calcium” with claims, counter claims, and gross misinformation. As in all cases, facts lay concealed within the public ‘posturing’ but in April 2006 a decision was made to commit to a premium pharmaceutical grade guaranteed to originate in the Island of Okinawa. Significantly, Japanese authorities accept this grade alone. Significantly, in the brief period since its introduction into the New Zealand market just brief months ago, health professionals are reporting on the benefits to their clients. There is satisfaction for any observer to see the benefits of a theory (or hope) realised with a bonus of economy.

Out of all the advertised “Super” “Easily Absorbed” “Complete” versions, why is Marine Coral Calcium from Okinawa so very different and so much more effective? Here we must make a further distinction between above and below sea level sources, as each is different; it is insufficient to specify “Okinawa” coral calcium as there is plenty of that cheaper but surface mined. (Are you now beginning to see just how complicated any assessment can become?)

Having sorted out the source, there is the related matter of processing and quality long before daring to put the finished product into one’s own body temple. This is where trust can matter since one may cautiously assume that, when a supplier meets stringent criteria over multiple products and over several years, the next product may well comply. That has been our experience, backed by clinicians’ findings. Even after just a few months exposure on our local market the benefits have been noticeable and positive.

What then may the consumer expect, assuming the correct unique product and brand has been identified?

1.Older readers may recall the ‘hype’ in the early 1980s over “colloidal minerals” which revolved around the small physical size of colloids, the argument being that smaller particles were more readily absorbed by the body mechanism. If this be true, then how much more beneficial a supplement wherein 75 minerals are even more available, being 1000 time smaller than their ‘colloidal colleagues’? Obviously even more so. Plus that bonus of those minerals to comply with the health adage “Minerals, minerals and more minerals”!
2.Those 75 minerals are in perfect balance in their natural state to deliver the 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. The added D3 vitamin helps stimulate the calcium absorption and enhance the bone-building process of the calcium. There is too the greater antioxidant potential.
3.The unique benefit provided by ‘Marine Grade Coral Calcium’ - again emphasising the need to ensure its Okinawa origin - has everything to do with stress and nothing to do with any other form of calcium. Uniquely, this product changes the blood chemistry from the stressed acidic condition to the normal pH of a healthy body. How fast, and when it does this, will vary according to individual circumstances. For example, that ‘Festive Tuck-in’ and all those sweets (starting with even just a teaspoon of sugar) will dramatically increase the body’s acidity. To combat this the daily intake of the product may need to be doubled, likely for several days, during which the blood acidity will vary considerably. Indeed as it does normally on an hour to hour basis. Simple test kits are available to check urine samples for personal assessment and verification. As the blood chemistry is maintained in its non-acid normal condition, over time the blood itself will influence the condition of all the body organs and extremities it services. Regular monitoring will indicate when maintenance, RDA, daily intake can be re-established. As necessary this simple ‘extra’ dosage can be applied in times of stress for the overall welfare and obvious benefit to the body.
4.Whether for dietary or environmental conditions, or combinations of these, Rickets is making its unwelcome reappearance in New Zealand. This condition is so easily and inexpensively treated by increasing the intake of Calcium. Bone strength reaches its maximum at age 35 with the ‘maximum growing period’ being from birth to age 18. Ninety nine per cent of body calcium is stored in bones and teeth. The tiny 1% circulates in the blood. Without it, the blood would not clot, muscles not contract properly, nerves would not carry messages correctly. Women entering menopause produce less oestrogens and so increase their risk of osteoporosis. Studies show oestrogens and calcium are up to three times more effective than oestrogens alone. Which is why professional health advisers recommend adequate calcium intake to aid hormone replacement therapy and other osteoporosis medications. In the USA, a frightening 25 million women and five million men will have some degree of osteoporosis.

We may argue the merits of benefits. Is it better to correct the blood chemistry or aid oestrogen production? But to do both, with just one inexpensive supplement, plus the huge benefits of those nano-size minerals, is about as good as it gets. And it all began because the native inhabitants of Okinawa enjoyed conspicuously good health and lived to a greater age; all attributed to their dietary contribution of marine coral calcium.

Unless you exercise Discernment at this time in history, perhaps its greatest lesson in modern days, I suggest you may join the tens of thousands in our fair country who fritter away both their income and their lives pursuing those ‘rainbows’ generated by the advertising elite to lure you, the consumer, into investing in commercial ‘names’ for little benefit.

Of course the ‘perfect diet’ will render all the above quite superfluous. Enjoy your green leafy vegetables, especially broccoli and spinach, and your sesame seed, tofu, soyabeans, dairy products, and juices. Whatever you do, don’t think too hard about their origins, their production or how long they have been out of the ground. To do so will mean a further exercise in the discipline of Discernment as yet another ‘can of worms’ is opened by the unwary.

A final word. If your body needs calcium, it will, in its extremis, draw it from the bones and teeth. The result may be a broken leg or hip. High levels of soft drink or tobacco consumption will inevitably reduce calcium levels. Soft drinks may contain phosphorus, which directly reduces calcium levels

For more information and/or the specific food supplement covered by this article contact Stella at Nature's Start NZ Ltd

Freephone New Zealand only 0800 11 67 33; Auckland local 572 0200; e-mail naturesstar@xtra.co.nz.

Relevant NZ Statistics:
About half women and one third men over sixty years of age will have osteoporosis
In 2006, 3000 people broke a hip. In ten years, statistically this figure may reach 4800
About 30% of those breaking a hip die within one year of the break
Bone density can be measured. Ask your professional about DEXA, the procedure required
Young people too can suffer from osteoporosis

** More information is available from Osteoporosis NZ www.bones.org.nz

Colin Addison is a Founder of The Blase Company (1988) Limited now trading as Nature's Star NZ Ltd.  Enquiries to naturesstar@xtra.co.nz.