Posted by Emme on May 25, 2004, at 10:05:30
In reply to Re: Rash and Calcium / Magnesium ? » Emme, posted by BarbaraCat on May 25, 2004, at 0:15:46
>
> > Coral Ca is Ca carbonate, which is inorganic, and not as well absorbed as Ca citrate.
> >
> **Thanks for your reply. This coral CA is a tricky subject. I get leery of the hype on so much of this stuff and it's hard to discern what's true. Some supposedly objective sources claim that the chemical structure is inorganic but having come from an organic living critter is more available and contains synergistic trace elements.You got me curious and so I looked at a few of coral calcium vendor web sites. You're right about the hype thing. The amazingly bizarro and far-reaching claims they make definitely raise my "quack antennae". One of the web sites said something about providing minerals in ionic form - that's ambiguous and misleading. The thing about raising your body's pH makes no sense. They don't even say what *part* of the body they mean. The stuff would act like antacid in your stomach. Interestingly, the Federal Trade Commission FTC has charged the marketers of Coral Calcium Supreme with making false and unsubstantiated claims about the product's health benefits.
> The idea of a bioavilable whole form of an injestible satisfies my general philosphy more than a synthetic as long as it's doing what it is supposed to. I also believe there's a biophysical energetic pattern to consider and not just the elemental makeup. A graphite
> pencil contains the same chemical
> ingredients as a diamond, but the structure makes all the difference.True about diamond/graphite. In this case, the structure of coral Ca is going to be the same as other Ca carbonate-based supplements. Corals produce calcium carbonate (limestone) minerals as a protective shell. (By mineral I mean geologically, like quartz or diamond for example - not in the vitamin/mineral sense). Ca carbonate formed or mined in any other way will have the same structure. Basically coral Ca is the same stuff as in antacids and classroom chalk. Seashells, which are used in some supplements, are formed analogously to coral, with bivalves making their shells from Ca and carbonate in the water. If a Ca carbonate is purified, it’s solubility will differ a little bit from coral Ca, largely due to the Mg in coral Ca. But that difference would be very small compared to the difference between different Ca forms. Chemically speaking, citrate forms are more bioavailable by a long shot.
The coral Ca will have some Mg because there's lots of Mg in seawater, and it'll have various trace elements. But that'll just be a reflection of what's present in the seawater and not something uniquely therapeutic. The vendors don’t provide information saying which trace elements are present, or how much, or any reliable scientific references on which elements provide health benefits and in what amounts they would be needed. So, you don’t know whether there’s too little of anything to matter, or if there are high concentrations of heavy metals like mercury.
Since the coral Ca is really pricey, I'll just stick with what I've got. I take Mg citrate, and I get the chewy Ca carbonate-based candy-like things because I just can't swallow another darned capsule of anything and you have to take several Ca-citrate capsules to get 1000mg.
Sorry to get carried away and rattle on so long.
> Maybe when I'm cured I can speak with authority!?
When you get cured, let me know how!! :)
cheers,
Emme
poster:Emme
thread:345854
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040418/msgs/350410.html