Benefits of Coral Calcium

Calcium is not only vital for maintaining healthy bones and teeth but it is also necessary for the proper functioning of your muscles, nerves and blood.

Calcium is not only vital for maintaining healthy bones and teeth but it is also necessary for the proper functioning of your muscles, nerves and blood. However, one problem of deriving these benefits through taking calcium supplements has always been that most forms of this mineral do not manage to reach the cells in your body where it can be efficiently utilized.

This is a cause for concern as a calcium deficiency puts you at risk of osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) - a condition that affects one in three women and one in 12 men over the age of 50 in the UK. Calcium is also important in maintaining your body's pH levels, or alkalinity. This is vital as a highly acidic environment can soon compromise your health, putting you at risk of conditions like indigestion and lowered immunity. Fortunately, a new form of calcium has just become available in the UK, which studies show is easily absorbed by your body's cells - meaning that your health is able to directly benefit from its therapeutic properties. The name of this new supplement is Coral Calcium and it is derived from Okinawa - a Japanese island renowned for the longevity of its inhabitants.

The island of Okinawa has Japan's highest proportion of people aged 100-plus. They eat a traditional Eastern diet which is high in fresh food, including vegetables and soya, but some scientists have suggested that a major factor responsible for their good health may also be due to the fact that they drink water that has flowed through the fossilized coral. The ancient coral in Okinawa is a rich source of calcium that once grew below the water. Now the seabed has become land and the coral has fossilized. This means that the sand-like particles of coral can be harvested easily and, it is claimed, without causing any environmental damage. Another benefit of taking coral from the land rather than the sea is that coral in today's oceans is likely to be polluted with undesirable heavy metals, whereas fossilized coral above ground was formed below the sea thousands of years ago when the ocean was free of industrial pollutants like mercury. As well as being rich in calcium, the coral also contains magnesium, sodium and potassium - all minerals that are essential for maintaining good health.

As mentioned, one of the main benefits linked to coral calcium is that it appears to be absorbed far more efficiently than ordinary calcium supplements. A Japanese study published in 1999 compared the levels of calcium in two groups of people, one taking coral calcium and the other a standard calcium supplement. Blood tests taken four hours after consumption showed that the calcium levels in the coral calcium group were up to twice the level of those taking ordinary calcium.

Herbalist John Smith, who is the herbal consultant to Earth Force, the UK distributors of Source Natural's Coral Calcium, has seen impressive results with the patients he's treated with coral calcium over the past three years. He believes that this form of calcium is absorbed so readily by the body due to the fact that it has already been broken down to some extent. The coral itself has already organically digested and processed the sea-borne minerals, thereby carrying out the first stages in the process of digestion that the human body would normally have to perform itself. When minerals are being absorbed by a living creature, including humans, one mineral can be antagonistic to the action of another - making it difficult to achieve the correct mineral balance. Fortunately the coral has already successfully completed this job - so increasing the likelihood that the calcium and other trace elements contained in coral calcium will be delivered to your body in the optimum ratio.

According to John Smith, 'Twenty or thirty years ago you could have got the minerals you needed from your food but now because of modern farming methods, you don't. You can get calcium from seaweed and dark green vegetables but not everyone can eat enough of these.' He says that some supplements can go almost straight through the body without any noticeable effect: 'But coral calcium is one supplement that is absorbed by the body and makes a difference to health.'

Sea minerals can improve your bone density, heart health and body pH levels Calcium helps maintain your body's pH levels, or alkalinity. As children we start out with body fluids and tissues that are in an alkaline state - high pH - but as we get older, numerous factors can soon contribute towards a shift to a more acidic state - low pH. These factors include poor diet and a reliance on highly processed foods that are low in trace minerals, inadequate water intake, medication, stress and exposure to pollutants.