My regular friends (readers) will know I often denounce calcium in no uncertain terms. While other doctors dole it out as necessary or “advisable”, I have been in print many times to say calcium is the last thing you want much of in your body.
Stupid (I mean REALLY stupid) science supposedly showing that osteoporosis is caused by lack of calcium and all you have to do is pump calcium into the blood and the bones will magically fill up again and go hard is as crazy as it sounds!
Osteoporosis, as a matter of fact, is caused by a number of things, none of which are lack of calcium! Magnesium deficiency is a much more significant contributor.
But really, osteoporosis is a whole-body nutritional disease, with no one single factor to blame. If it could be boiled down to just one substance, then I think I would pick on boron. Women taking 3 mgs a day of boron need never fear osteoporosis (unless it is already present).
But calcium deficiency? Definitely NOT.
Yet doctors go on pumping this stuff into trusting patients, in blyth disregard of the fact that in almost all other situations, calcium is dangerous! Seriously!
It’s the hallmark of aging—more so than even wrinkles in the skin. As we get older we get crustier (calcium build up); it accumulates in the joints (osteoarthritis), brain tissue, artery walls (hence hardening of the arteries and heart attacks) and—worst of all—build up in the coronary arteries.
The latter is so definitive of bad arteries that it is the number one marker for atherosclerosis and risk of death resulting from a heart attack.
All repeat after me: WE DON’T WANT CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS!
In a study just released (2013), a new analysis has shown that a high intake of supplemental calcium increases the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) death by a shocking 20%. But only men, in this case. Compared with individuals who took no calcium, men who consumed 1000 mg or more of supplemental calcium per day had a significant 20% increased risk of CVD death, mainly heart-disease death.
It’s interesting to note that this particular analysis did not show any effect for women. But do not be reassured. A 2010 meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal showed that the use of calcium supplements without coadministered vitamin D is associated with an increased risk of MI. This increased risk was later confirmed in an analysis of the patients participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study (EPIC).
The best source of calcium is not supplements, it’s diet!
For those of you who have never read my osteoporosis book, it’s downloadable at no cost. Just go here:
http://www.informed-wellness.com/osteoporosis2.pdf
Anti-Aging
For those of you still concerned about aging, osteoporosis and staying young, fit and supple for the maximum number of years, then you need to read my definitive guide to holding back aging:
How to Live Beyond 100 Years.
It’s full of science (as are all my books), covering everything from the health benefits of sex to the latest on stem cells.
It’s full of surprises. For example the number one factor in living a long and happy life isn’t a nutritional factor at all; it’s belonging!
Plus, I share with you that aging boils down to just ONE protein (progerin) and if we could beat just that one thing, aging may pass into history as something we don’t do any more!
I’ve a good page explaining the benefits of this manual here:
[SOURCES:
1.Xiao Q, Murphy RA, Houston DK, Harris TB, Chow WH, Park Y. Dietary and supplemental calcium intake and cardiovascular disease mortality. JAMA Intern Med 2013; DOI:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.3283. Available at: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx.
Larsson SC. Are cardiovascular supplements harmful to cardiovascular disease? JAMA Intern Med 2013; DOI:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.3769. Available at: http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/journal.aspx]
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