I have osteoporosis. I have initially asked here what the best brand of coral calcium is. I got conflicting replies. Someone gave me tips about coral calcium, Intuition tells me indeed that if it's from a once living source such as coral it's better. But then someone said that this too is calcium carbonate. Someone suggested calcium citrate is the best.
Besides, are calcium and magnesium supplements friends or enemies?
At present I'm on calcium carbonate 2mg daily + one monthly vial of vitamin D + Fosamax, the regimen recommended by my doctor.
So what is the best among the three: coral calcium, calcium citrate or my current regimen? Any other suggestion?
Thanks for taking the time to read all this, and possibly respond! Any resources on the web? 1.Calcium Citrate -
Absorption: Calcium is best absorbed in an acidic environment, hence calcium citrate is the best absorbed supplemental form of calcium. It does not require extra stomach acid for absorption, hence we may take it anytime in a day, even on an empty stomach.
Calcium content: Calcium Citrate usually provides less elemental calcium per pill than Calcium Carbonate, therefore one may need to take a relatively more numbers of pills per day to meet the needs.
Pill Size: Calcium Citrate is usually small in capsule form.
If you suffer from acid stomach, it is best to avoid Calcium Citrate.
2.Calcium Carbonate e.g. Tums or Caltrate
Absorption: Calcium Carbonate is alkaline based, it requires extra stomach acid for better absorption, hence it is best taken right after meals or with a glass of acidic juice such as orange juice.
Calcium Content: Calcium Carbonate is the most prevalent calcium supplements in the market . It provides more elemental calcium than Calcium Citrate hence you may not need take as many pills.
Pill Size: Calcium Carbonate usually comes in a bigger tablet, some people may find it harder to swallow.
3.Coral calcium, indeed, is composed of mostly calcium carbonate, just like those you found in Tums or other calcium carbonate supplements from the stores! In addition, in June 2003, 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 Dietary Reference Intake DRI for calcium for adults is 1000mg -1300mg depending on age and gender.
Warning: do not consume more than 2500mg of elemental calcium daily.
NATURAL PRESCRIPTION FOR OSTEOPOROSIS
Increase foods containing calcium, including low-fat dairy products. You can add dry, powdered milk to certain recipes -- puddings, meat loafs, muffins, and baked goods-to boost calcium content.
Reduce your protein intake (limit to 6 ounces daily) and your salt intake (avoid the salt shaker and use sparingly in cooking.
Eliminate caffeine, sugar, and alcohol from your diet. Stop smoking
Adopt a program of regular exercise.
TAKE -
Calcium: 1,200 mg of calcium citrate at bedtime.
Magnesium: 400 mg /day.
Boron: 2 mg/day.
Vitamin D: 400 IU /day. Calcium carbonate is fine and is found in seashells and certain rock. Calcium citrate has higher bioavailability than carbonate and is better absorbed. Coral is primarily composed of calcium carbonate with traces of magnesium, which is needed for better absorption and utilization (like vit. D) but the harvesting of coral decimates coral reefs and endangers the habitats of many species of fish.
Continue with the Fosamax, it's not a form of calcium. You can also take calcium citrate that has both mag & vit. D (cholecalciferol) added to it. I have to believe you're taking more than just 2mg of calcium daily, as you stated. Maybe 2000mg? calcium carbonate isnt very absorbable really, and can actually cause bone spurs, not prevent them. Calcium citrate is better absorbed than calcium carbonate but much more expensive. In an article from the November, 1999 issue of The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, Howard J. Heller, MD and his colleagues compared the calcium absorption of Citracal (a calcium citrate formulation) and Os-Cal (a calcium carbonate one) after a single oral dose (500 mg calcium), taken with a meal. By measuring blood levels of calcium, they demonstrated that calcium citrate is 2.5 times more bioavailable (easier for your body to use) than calcium carbonate.
Calcium from an organic food source, as to be found in s health food store, is the best! I personally use a different a form of calcium that most people are not familiar with. The form of calcium that I use is called calcium orotate. You might be wondering what is the difference between calcium orotate and the others that you mentioned. The calcium orotate actually delivers the calcium to the cells. The other forms of calcium you might be lucky if you absorb 9% of the calcium.The name of the product that I use is called Intracal. The calcium orotate was discovered by Dr. Hans Nieper over 27 years ago. I think this is the best calcium that I have ever used. You will also find that the quality of the ingredients that are used in the Intracal are off the highest quality and this product does not contain any preservatives ,food coloring and other unnecessary ingreditns that are used by many other supplement companies. Calcium citrate is the best one you have mentioned because it is organic and organic calcium is absorbed much better than inorganic calcium such as calcium oxide or calcium carbonate. Calcium gluconate and other organic calcium would also be fine.
Calcium and magnesium are friends and interact but you must avoid a gross excess of one because then the one in gross excess is absorbed at the expense of the other one due to preferential absorption and you could end up deficient in the other one.
The best magnesium to take is magnesium orotate or other organic magnesium because they are absorbed much better than inorganic magnesium such as magnesium oxide and carbonate and dolomite. Dolomite is calcium carbonate plus magnesium carbonate. Although carbonates contain carbon this carbon is regarded as inorganic carbon because carbonates behave like inorganic anions. It's not just about calcium. It's about the ability of the living cells in your bones to structure calcium into the bone mass.
Cows get their caclium from green, leafy veggies. Such plants also contain the various other nutrients that you were designed to utilize for good health, which includes your natural ability to regulate your bone density. I like coral calcium because you can make it into a drink. i like drinks better than pills, i think you get more out of them, especially when you can drink them slowly during a meal.
One of the greatest sources of calcium is green leafy vegetables.
Exercise is great for osteoporosis. especially weight bearing exercise, i would see someone about setting up a routine. Coral calcium has been hyped a lot, but my nutrition prof was not impressed with it. As a supplement in pill form, we'd look for calcium citrate, chelated calcium or (last choice) calcium lactate.
A good idea is to buy high-quality products and rotate among brands each time you buy. We are never 100% sure that these "natural" products have in them exactly the ingredients they say, hence the high-quality names and the rotation.
At the risk of sounding like a nag, may I add a few remarks:
1) there's something wrong with your 2mg dosage. A minimum dose for an osteoporosis patient would be one gram per day, which is 1000 milligrams. Please pay strict attention to the label on the bottle. You are looking for the "elemental calcium" content, not the milligrams or grams of calcium compound. For example, a 600 mg Ca tablet can actually contain only 150 mg of elemental calcium. Most high-quality manufacturers will specify on the label the milligram content of the compound and also the milligram content of "elemental calcium." If the label does not present this information, it would be best to avoid this product.
2) calcium (Ca) must always be combined with magnesium (Mg). The reason is that a high-calcium or calcium-only intake will result in a net calcium depletion of the bone tissue. The body must always maintain Ca/Mg in a specific balance in the bloodstream. If the human being overdoses on calcium only, the ingenious body will dissolve bone tissue to obtain the magnesium necessary to keep the blood balance.
This important fact is sometimes neglected by medical doctors. A common practice is to prescribe 1 or 2 grams of calcium only, while neglecting magnesium. A recipe for disaster.
The proportion of Ca to Mg is about 2 to 1. Most high-quality calcium preparations will also present magnesium in the right proportion. Or you can buy them separately. If buying separately, the same caution re "elemental magnesium" will apply. Ideally, you will be looking for something like 1 gram of elemental calcium plus 500 mg elemental magnesium per day.
This should be taken in staggered doses during the day, with meals because Ca & Mg absorb better with food. For example, one 500 mg Ca with 200-250 mg Mg with lunch, another with dinner, a third with breakfast if you like.
3) all osteoporosis patients should modify and re-work their entire nutrition program. The goal here is to prevent calcium loss from the bones, rather than simply increasing the oral intake. Can you find someone to work with you, possibly in a low-cost clinic associated with a good school of naturopathy or a nutrition faculty in your area.
Your goal here is to change gradually from a diet that burns to an acid ash - this is the typical North American diet - to one that leaves a more alkaline ash. Foods to reduce are meat, excessive protein, junk foods, processed commercial foods, soda pop, excessive sugar, white flour products and coffee. Foods to increase are simple. More vegetables. More fruit. More vegetables. Whole grains. More vegetables. Beans and lentils. More vegetables.
4) more on nutrition. Authorities are divided as to whether calcium from dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese or calcium from dark-green-leafy vegetables is better assimilated by the human body. I mean really good authorities with plenty of academic studies to back up each point of view. What to do when the authorities can't agree? The answer seems simple - keep lots of both in your diet.
The dark-green-leafies include broccoli, rapini, chard, kale, beet and turnip greens, and to a much lesser extent the deeply colored lettuces such as oak leaf and romaine.
If your nutrition is not very healthy right now, it will take some time to accustom yourself to a better regime, perhaps an entire year. That's why a knowledgeable nutritionist or naturopath could help with support & suggestions. I'd start by visiting my local farmers' market, most cities have them now, and please especially check out the organic produce.
5) a walk on the wild side - something to think about. Wild greens are chock-full of valuable minerals including calcium, magnesium and potassium, and they're brimming with vitamins. Dandelion leaves, for example, contain more minerals and vitamins than spinach. Another high-mineral wild green leaf is nettles, traditionally made into nettle soup or an infusion to drink (combine with fruit juice or your favorite tea if you like.) You can find these wild greens at a local farmers' market, or perhaps at your health food store. You could even learn to find and gather them in the countryside yourself.
One interesting herb called horsetail helps to deposit calcium into bone tissue. It grows wild across north America and is sold in health food stores. You'd make it into an infusion (steep for 4 hours or more to extract the minerals.) In the morning, combine with tea & heat as a breakfast beverage. Use this no more than 1 or at the most 2 weeks out of 4, as it contains silica. This is good for your joints in small quantities, but should not be taken daily for long period of time.
6) certain foods are a big caution because they contain oxalic acid. This combines with calcium in the bloodstream and gets excreted as calcium oxalate, so the result of eating these foods is a net calcium loss. These foods are: rhubarb, spinach, sorrel and to a much lesser extent, chocolate. It's OK to have rhubarb 1 or 2 or 3 times a year, when it's fresh, but it's not OK to scarf down spinach 3 times a week while believing it's good for you. Pop-eye was wrong.
7) I'm sure your doctor has gone on and on about how you must do weight-bearing exercises. These build up bone tissue. Walking is just great. It's perfect for you. Please leave that car at home. Could you join a hiking or walking group. They're interesting & fun & a painless way to save your bones. Swimming, by the way, is not considered a weight-bearing exercise, because the water supports the body. Bicycling is not as helpful as walking, because the bike bears the weight, not the human skeleton.
8) re: Fosamax. The questionable news about this is that the bone tissue that results is lacey and brittle. Studies have shown that patients taking this and other similar medications have just as many fractures as control groups, even if their bone readings improve in tests.
9) if you smoke, your doctor has already lectured you about this. It's a real no-no for osteoporosis patients.
Wishing you the very best. It's a long year of work, but I personally believe osteoporosis can be avoided. If the disorder is present it can be stopped. I even believe it can be reversed, I would say the following are the best for both osteoporosis and arthritis:
Kelp : - Kelp contains all the vitamins, amino acids and minerals you need. It also contains Calcium, Magnesium and Manganese . All these nutrients are in a bio-absorbable format and the magnesium aids in the absorbtion of the other nutrients(particularly Calcium). It also contains iodine which is good for the thyroid.
Chlorella, Spirulina: These are similar to Kelp but cost about 4 times as much. Personally, I prefer kelp.
Try looking these up on a google search. These are also good for arthritis:
Glucosamine sulphate
Squalene
Shark Cartiledge
Yucca Root
Good luck |
