The Confusion Over Calcium/Magnesium and Your Bones.

There is a recent obsession with calcium supplementation that is far from healthy. So many products have calcium added that our systems can't cope with it. Our calcium/magnesium balance is becoming severely upset, leading to excess calcium being deposited in joints and organs. This is a leading cause of arthritis. Too much calcium also makes the lack of magnesium more severe and this can cause heart attacks.

Many allopathic doctors are telling you to take more calcium for your bones. But they are behind on their research. Without an equivalent amount of magnesium your bones can't make the hormone that deposits the calcium in your bones. So the calcium ends up in places where it can hurt you, creating problems like high blood pressure and stroke.

Most supplements have a 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. Alternative health doctors have said for years that this ratio should be 1:1. It is also recommended by Dr. Baroody, the author of "Alkalize or Die", that you take magnesium and calcium separately because the receptor sites on your cells can only accept one of them at a time. That eliminates most supplements on the market. You can take magnesium with breakfast and calcium with lunch and dinner.

Some forms of minerals are also more easily assimilated than others. Most of the calcium that is added to products is calcium carbonate; ground up rock. For every 1000 mgs of calcium carbonate you take you are only absorbing 26%. If you use the new angstrom liquid minerals instead they go directly to the cells, bypassing the digestive system, and they are more easily absorbed.

Magnesium is undersupplied in most people's diets and that is the mineral that makes our bones flexible and strong. Magnesium should be taken to bowel tolerance, up to 1000 mgs a day. If you can't tolerate that much without diarrhea at first, just add slowly and your tolerance will increase.

A recently issued National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report indicates that nearly 80% of Americans are deficient in magnesium, an essential mineral that is required for the health of living cells, bones and normal function of muscle and heart tissues. Magnesium is found in foods such as dark-green leafy vegetables, whole grains and nuts, but nutrition researchers say the over-processing of foodstuffs and the use of phosphates in cola soft drinks have led to mineral deficiencies, particularly shortages of magnesium.

Milk is Not a Good Source of Calcium

Some dairy products have over 9:1 ratios of calcium to magnesium plus are full of saturated fat, so they are best avoided. The coutries like the U.S. and New Zealand, which are high in dairy consumption, have a much higher rate of osteoporosis. Milk is not good for your bones!

"The obsession with calcium in our society appears to be a major contributor to magnesium depletion. High intake of calcium interferes with magnesium absorption. In other words it makes an already existing deficiency worse" according to Dr Reiss, author of Natural Hormone Balance.

There are many factors which dramatically deplete your body's magnesium storage and make it necessary for greater consumption of magnesium: coffee, sugar, mental stress, alcohol, cola type soda, high sodium diet, tobacco, medical drugs of all types, high perspiration, low thyroid, diabetes, diuretics, chronic pain, a high carbohydrate diet, a high calcium diet.

Vitamin D3 is Another Necessary Factor in Absorbtion

Another necessary piece of the calcium puzzle is Vitamin D3. We can get that from 15 minutes of sunshine a day without sun block, or we can take a supplement. Many researchers say that 50% of Americans suffer from deficiencies of Vitamin D. Without it calcium cannot be moved into the bones and, again, gets stored in the wrong places.
There is new information that the RDA of Vitamin D is way too low. Read The Vitamin D Cure to find out how much you should be taking. There is a blog entry on this in the diet section here.

Acid Ph Robs Your Bones of Calcium

Your ph balance has an effect on your calcium levels also. If your body is too acidic from eating processed food, too much meat, sodas, caffeine, then your body needs free calcium to escort the acid substances out of the body. The calcium buffers the acid so that it doesn't burn a hole in your gut on its way through the body. If there is no free calcium in the body then the bones will be robbed of calcium for this purpose. But the solution for that is not to take more calcium but to improve your ph balance. More about that in the article on ph balance.

Coral Calcium

Coral Calcium has been proven to be a health scam. There is no proof that it works any better than any other form of calcium, perhaps less. It's one of those health gimmicks that come on the market in a flash and dazzle of hype, make millions of dollars for the promoters and then fades away. There is no scientific evidence that it cures anything.

There is a relatively new source of calcium on the market that is very well-absorbed and shows up well in bone tests. It is Microcrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite compound (MCHC). It is derived from the bones of young cattle. In most cases it is put into bone supplements with other ingredients, like Jarrow Bone-Up. I would rather take it separately and I would rather be sure that it comes from New Zealand. I trust their farming practices. So I would recommend Now Foods Microcrystalline calcium hydroxyapatite. It's very inexpensive from Iherbs.com.

So, the bottom line is to be very aware of all the sources of extra calcium that you take in during the day and then take an equivalent amount of magnesium to balance it so that it can get into your bones where it belongs. Then the calcium will stay out of your soft tissues and your joints where it can create irreversible trouble and pain.

Disclaimer: Nothing on this site is to be construed as medical advice. I am not a medical practitioner and have no ability to diagnose or treat disease. This site is intended for informational purposes only. Everyone should make their own health decisions after getting all the information they need.