Nothing magical about coral calcium

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WHAT'S IN THE BOTTLE?

Nothing magical about coral calcium

UC BERKELEY WELLNESS LETTER

August 17, 2004

Debunking the wild claims made for supplements is an ongoing battle. The

latest cure-all is coral calcium, promoted widely in health- food stores and

on the Internet. It's probably the most expensive calcium pill in history.

Its manufacturers say that coral calcium not only is the best kind of

calcium but also relieves pain and treats some 200 diseases, including

Alzheimer's, diabetes and lupus. Some infomercials and Web sites even boldly

announce that coral calcium treats or cures cancer.

Moreover, they claim that people on the Japanese island of Okinawa have long

and healthy lives because their drinking water contains large amounts of

coral calcium, which makes the water alkaline and balances the body's

acidity.

Thus, you're supposed to take more coral calcium if your body is especially

acidic. However, if your body were as acidic as some of the labels suggest,

you wouldn't survive long enough to swallow the supplement.

Coral and the shells of sea creatures are made of calcium carbonate, the

most common and usually cheapest form of calcium supplement (used in Tums,

for instance). Coral calcium also supplies other minerals such as magnesium,

mostly in small amounts, which you can easily get from foods or a basic

multivitamin/mineral pill.

There has been little or no good research on coral as a source of calcium or

as a treatment for disease. But that doesn't stop the marketers from making

their claims, since dietary supplements are virtually unregulated. You have

no idea what's really in the bottle or if the stuff is safe.

Historically, calcium supplements haven't always beensafe: Years ago calcium

carbonate from bone meal or oyster shells, for instance, was used in some

sup- plements - but was later found to contain high levels of lead.

Since then the government and manufacturers took action to reduce lead

levels in existing calcium supplements. But new supplements can go untested.

There are, however, plenty of reliable calcium pills. Generic calcium

carbonate pills can cost as little as 5cents a day, compared to as much as a

dollar a day for coral calcium. There's no reason to think coral calcium is

anything magical, let alone better than other calcium sources, or worth the

extra expense.

Last year the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration

started cracking down on marketers of coral calcium, saying that they are

making false and unsubstantiated claims about the product's health benefits.

Words to the wise: Yes, Okinawans tend to live long healthy lives and even

inspired a bestselling book.

Here's their secret: a diet based on fruits, vegetables and grains (with an

em- phasis on whole grains), plus fish, small amounts of meat and poultry,

moderate al- cohol intake (if any), no smoking, and lots of hard work and

exercise - not coral calcium.

The researchers who did the Okinawa Centarian Study have issued a position

paper about coral calcium that dismisses the claims.

Coral calcium

Claims, benefits: Not only the best source of calcium for your bones, but

also cure or treatment for everything from cancer and Alzheimer's to

diabetes and lupus.

Bottom line: There is no evidence that coral calcium cures or treats any

disease or that it is better than a basic, inexpensive calcium carbonate

pill.