CALCIUM

By Lawrence Wilson, MD

©January 2008, LD Wilson Consultants, Inc.

Calcium is the most plentiful element in the body, with most in the bones, teeth and nerves. Calcium helps regulate cell permeability, iks critical for maintenance of acid-base balance and assists many other body activities as well. These include male and female hormone secretion, cell division and osmotic balance. It stabilizes cell membranes, helps muscles relax and slows nerve transmission and the heart rate. Calcium also helps prevent fluid loss from cells and from the blood.

Calcium inhibits thyroid-releasing hormone and increases insulin secretion. It inhibits the sympathetic nervous system. It is required for phosphorus metabolism and energy production in the krebs cycle.

Calcium is also important as a detoxifier, preventing the uptake of lead and cadmium. Blood clotting and fat digestion depend on calcium. Calcium is extremely alkaline-forming and helps maintain the pH balance of the blood.

Stability, hardness and physicality are qualities of calcium. When deficient, one becomes weak and fragile. When calcium is in excess one becomes rigid and immobile. Its opposite elements are phosphorus and sodium, elements that activate and dissolve things. Calcium personality types are earthy, plodding, steady and blunt. They often move slowly and awkwardly and are unpolished in their language and mannerisms. They develop slowly and have a great potential for love and spirituality.

SYMPTOMS OF CALCIUM IMBALANCE

Deficiency Symptoms. These may include osteoporosis, rickets, non-union of fractures, tooth decay and insomnia. Teeth, fingers and other bones may be misshapen. Posture can be poor and legs bowed. Other symptoms are muscle cramps, irritability, hyperkinesis, hyperacidity, bruising, high blood pressure, fight-or-flight reactions, fast oxidation, lead and cadmium toxicity, tetany and cancer.

Toxicity Symptoms. Calcium toxicity symptoms may include fatigue, depression, defensiveness, muscle weakness, pain, arteriosclerosis, arthritis, kidney stones and gallstones. Others are bone spurs, rigidity, slow metabolism, constipation, social withdrawal and spondylitis (rigidity and inflammation of the spine).

Biounavailable Calcium. In many instances, calcium is biounavailable. This means it is present, but cannot be used properly. This condition causes symptoms of deficiency and excess at the same time.

CALCIUM IN THE LIFE CYCLE

Children And Breast Milk. Babies’ bones are flexible, as is their personality. Children’s growing bodies need loads of calcium for their bones and even moreso for their nervous systems. This is why substituting soda pop, teas, water or even other milks such as soy milk for the more nutritious breast milk is a terrible crime against the growing baby, in particular.

Mother’s milk is a rich source of calcium and vitamin D that help create a calcified skeleton. It is, without question, the perfect food for babies, which is why it should be given for at least three years. Yes, three, not one or six months. Keep breastfeeding until the child will not accept any more, or about age three. This will give a child the best start in life. This is so critical that it deserves a separate article all about the many reasons for the benefits of mother’s milk.

It is unfortunate when, for various reasons, a child cannot receive breast milk. It would be wonderful if mother’s could help each other, as the milk does not have to come from the biological mother. Any wet nurse would do, and this used to be the habit and still is, among primitive tribes who understand more about the body than most modern women do.

Cow’s Milk And Milk Substitutes. Pasteurized and homogenized milk is not as good a source of calcium. In earlier times, well-informed doctors recommended only raw, certified milk for children. This is milk from cows that have been rigorously inspected for disease by government authorities and must meet very high standards of cleanliness. It is an excellent product, although today all cows are hybrids and this is another issue that is discussed in separate articles. This excellent food is outlawed in most states, often not only for false health reasons, as is claimed, but for political reasons as well. There are forces that do not want people to take control of their lives and their nutrition, though it is sad to say.

Pasteurization. This harmful method of sterilization unfortunately allows milk from sick cows to be sold on the open market. It also permits lax standards of cleanliness on a few huge dairy farms that supply large areas of America. In addition, cooking the milk renders its calcium less biologically available to the body. It also damages the protein in the milk to a degree that is surprising, making it much harder to digest.

Copper And Pasteurization. Copper rollers are, or were often used in the pasteurization process. This can add excess copper to the milk products, which includes cheese, yogurt, butter, whey and other dairy products. Goat milk is less damaged by pasteurization, for which reason it is preferable, though goats are also hybridized to a large degree, today, which renders the milk less ideal than previously. We hope that strains or cows that are more natural and healthful will be maintained around the world. There are few at this time in the United States, even among the organic and local dairies. They just do not give enough milk and have become obsolete, so to speak.

Homogenization is another insult to milk. Vigorous shaking breaks up the fat particles so they stay in solution instead of rising to the top. However, the small particles are absorbed directly into the blood stream instead of being digested properly. This renders the milk less healthful.

Soda pop is worth mentioning because companies that produce it targe children and young mother’s due to its “convenience” It is about the worst beverage for children, not to mention adults, and all children should be made to avoid this monster if at all possible.

The fact that sodas are still sold in schools, along with fruit juices, should make parents remove the children from this environment. However, this level of awareness is a long way off. Children must have tremendous amounts of calcium to develop normally, and these two beverages tend to deplete calcium instead of supplying it.

Here are reasons to avoid soda and juices for children:

1) Little Calcium. Soda pop and juices supply little if any calcium, even if “enriched”, usually with a cheap form of supplemental calcium. Orange juice has some calcium, but even this product is not healthful for anyone in our opinion.

2) Fruit or phosphoric acids. Sodas, in particular, and orange juice, too, are quite acidic foods. This means they contain fruit acids or phosphoric acid added to soda pop. These are hard to digest, no matter what the “health authorities” say. Citrus like grapefruit is somewhat better because it has so little sugar, the other harmful ingredient in fruit juices and soda pop.

3) Sugars to saturation. Sugar is discussed in other articles. Simple carbohydrates are a very damaging food for children, unless combined as in natural milks, especially mother’s milk. They also upset calcium metabolism more than any other single factor in many instances. Melvin Page, DDS and others wrote extensively about this in his book, Degenereation, Regeneration, Nutritional Development, FL, 1949,1980. and in oher works.

4) Too much liquid. This is another problem with drinking water, teas, soy milk in particular and other diluted beverages. That is, the nutrient density of these beverages is so low the baby must drink too much liquid to get any nutrition at all. This makes for upset stomachs and more problems for the kidneys and many other organs. It is a subtle problem with formula and all substitutes for mother’s milk in most cases.

4) Phosphoric acid and some fruit acids. Phosphoric acid, used in most soda drinks to provide a “kick”, is a powerful absorbant of calcium in the intestinal tract. It binds to calcium, forming calcium phosphates. This prevents the bound calcium from being absorbed properly. It is insane to look for calcium in a food that has phosphoric acid added for “fizz” or some other reason.

Fruit acids, which include phosphoric, malic and others, can also do the same thinkg. This is one reason that people eating a lot of fruit have decayed teeth. It is not just the surface effects of fruit acids on the dentine of the teeth. It is also the absorption and binding of calcium by fruit acids, rendering them less absorbable

This is not to be confused with the fact that absorption of calcium requires an acid medium in the stomach. This is the truth. However, the proper acid is hydrochloric acid. This enables calcium, if it is unbound, to be mixed with amino acids and thereby chelated. This word means to be bound to a mineral transporter, such as the amino acid glutamate or others. This, in fact, permit greater calcium absorption. However, binding calcium with other materials, such as phosphorus, creates insoluble compounds that are poorly absorbed. This is why one should not buy a calcium phosphate product in the health store. This will not be as well absorbed as a calcium chelated product.

5) Low in essential fatty acids. One of the great benefits of most mother’s milk is the fatty acid content. This is absolutely essential for childhood development of the nervous system.

A cause of autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and many more developmental delays and learning problems stem from inadequate fatty acids in the body. It is not easy to obtain the needed ones from modern food. Also, children fed exclusively formula are all deficient in fatty acids and other nutrients, some of which have not been discovered and will not be so for some years. This applies even when vitamins and other nutrients are added to the milk “formula”.

By the way, “formula” is a euphemism for deficient milk. It will be outlawed once it is discovered the harm it causes. This should be avoided by all mothers and doctors, as it is harmful to the extreme. Now back to fatty acids. The body needs a wide range of fatty acids for its development. Fish oils can supply most of these. Today’s food is deficient in many of them, however, some of which are known and many are not known.

6) Unknown Needs. Thus, a hidden reason for using breast milk is to obtain all the nutrients we have not discovered as yet. Based on previous experience, there are plenty of these nutrients for babies, children and even adults.

7) Caffeine And Many Chemicals. These are common in almost all beverages except simple herb teas, which may be given to children in small quantities. Otherwise, however, one is feeding the child a chemical coctail and that is pretty much all they are. Sugar substitutes are even worse that sugars in some cases, such as aspartame (Equal or Nutrasweet). The other fake sweeteners are less bad, but not too much in most cases. They upset the delicate taste detection methods in children, leading to other problems of metabolism, obesity among them. This is an important reason for the “obesity epidemic”, which is really an epidemic of disease in the form of fat deposition where it is not supposed to be. This is now a world epidemic as poor eating and feeding practices have spread. We would like this changed, as fat burning is critical for excellent health.

8) More Toxins. This is a serious problem when some tap waters are used with powdered or concentrated formula. People forget that tap water is not a healthful product, with its added chlorides, fluorides, aluminum (used in most every municipal water system), copper in some areas, and more.

Most urban water supplies have some degree of contamination with medical drugs, for example. Your baby gets a dose of antibiotics, sleeping pills and much, much more with each bottle for this reason.

Most people also do not understand that the body excretes most of the drugs it is fed. Only a small percentage of the total dose remains for a few hours to have its intended effect on the body. This is one reason for the toxicity of drugs, and it is a correctable situation to some degree.

9) More toxins. Babies are also exposed to radiation poisoning through the water used in many nations. Other problems with using tap water are parasites, bacteria, viruses, toxic metals and more. The point is, avoid using formula by diluting it with tap water if you care about your child. Use distilled or spring water if possible. Otherwise, filter or at least boil water to make it a safer product.

Concluding Remarks on Breastfeeding. This should convince anyone of the value of breastfeeding. If a woman can amange it, breast feed directly to your child. If, however, you must be away from the child, the bonding with the child will not occur as well. However, breast milk can be pumped out and saved, using a breast pump. Refrigerate it if and only if it will be used more than an hour or two after it is pumped. It will have to be heated a little, or the child will usually vomit. Also, if the woman is very upset, using a breast pump may also be best. A baby is very sensitive to the vibrations of the mother. If the mother cannot relax, pumping the milk and then handing it the child in a cradle may actually be better than holding a baby in an agitated state and believing the child can assimilate the milk properly. The child must be relaxed, as with adults, to feed properly. Children, however, will often vomit if they are uncomfortable, whereas adults usually will just develop bloating, gas and other problems by eating when upset, anxious, in a hurry or not chewing or resting while eating.

DIETARY SOURCES OF CALCIUM

Excellent calcium foods include raw, certified milk, cheese and yogurt, sardines, caviar, cod roe, gelatin, smelt and egg yolks. Soups made with bones such as a ham hock or veal joint broth are also excellent sources.

The next best sources are kelp, brewer’s yeast and other sea vegetables. Other good sources are almonds, sesame seeds, beans and filberts. Dark green vegetables such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, comfrey and carrots are also good.

Corn tortillas or corn chips prepared in the traditional way with lime are other good sources. However, most corn chips do not contain lime and are not a good source of calcium. Neither is corn bread or corn eaten as a vegetable.

Strict vegetarians often develop a calcium deficiency. Although they eat greens, nuts and seeds, the calcium from these sources is less available than in eggs and raw dairy products. Their diets are also low in calcium synergists such as vitamins A and D.

CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS

The best calcium supplement in my view is kelp. It combines calcium with other minerals needed for calcium utilization. Those with a hyperthyroid condition may have trouble with the iodine in kelp.

Other excellent supplements are calcium citrate, calcium chelate and calcium gluconate. Bone meal used to be popular and is a superb supplement if it is not contaminated with lead. Microcrystalline hydroxyapatite crystals (MCHC) is another excellent form of calcium. Other forms are calcium lactate, orotate and aspartate.

Calcium carbonate, phosphate, dicalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate are not well absorbed as the phosphorus binds tightly to the calcium. Calcium carbonate is common chalk. It is extremely alkaline and found in Tums, other anti-acids and coral calcium. People who are too acidic may benefit from it. Unfortunately, stomach acid is important for digestion and reducing it too much interferes with digestion.

In his book, Barefoot on Coral Calcium. An Elixir of Life?, author Robert Barefoot mentions that coral calcium contains significant amounts of iron, aluminum and strontium. Aluminum and strontium are poisons. Most people also have toxic levels of iron stored in their livers. Dr. Barefoot dismisses this problem. His book is poorly referenced and contains no scientific studies of coral calcium. I suggest avoiding coral calcium.

Toxic metals can make one feel good for a while. This is one reason people smoke cigarettes which supply lead, arsenic and cadmium. Problems develop ten years later or more.

Many commercial calcium preparations in drug stores also contain lots of sugar. Some are even sold like candies. These products will be less effective because sugar upsets calcium metabolism. Usually the calcium is in the form of calcium carbonate, a poorly absorbed form. I suggest avoiding calcium carbonate and sugared calcium supplements.

CALCIUM AND THE FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT RESPONSE

In the fight-or-flight response, the body excretes calcium in the urine. This causes the muscles and nervous system to go into a state of alertness to respond to stress. Those who live in a fight-or-flight pattern much of the time are continuously losing calcium in their urine. These sympathetic dominant individuals overuse their sympathetic nervous system.

In the exhaustion stage of stress, calcium is lost into the tissues. Low tissue sodium and potassium levels prevent calcium from remaining in an ionized or soluble form in the blood. Instead, it precipitates and deposits in many body tissues including the joints, arteries, kidneys and elsewhere. This is a cardinal sign of aging.

The process is identical to calcium deposition on faucets in hard water areas. ‘Hard’ water does not contain enough sodium to ‘soften’ the calcium. Adding salt or potassium with a water softener prevents calcium deposition. The same approach can dissolve calcium deposits in the body. Eating salt and potassium are not adequate. One must restore adrenal glandular activity which is responsible for normal retention of sodium and potassium.

CALCIUM SYNERGISTS

Magnesium helps keep calcium in solution. Sources are nuts, seeds, kelp, wheat bran, wheat germ, molasses and brewer’s yeast. Silica is another calcium synergist. It may be transmuted into calcium according to Dr. Louis Kervan, author of Biological Transmutations. Chlorine, hydrochloric acid in the stomach and adequate protein in the diet are also required for calcium utilization.

Potassium. This is another potent calcium synergist, although too much and it can become an antagonist by dissolving calcium from the bones and elsewhere. See the section in this article and separate articles on fast oxidation for more on this topic. Potassium is absolutely critical for calcium metabolism in many enzymes. In fact, a recent study found that potassium is required for bone strength or density. (Jehle, S., et al., Partial neutralization of the acidogenic Western diet with potassium citrate increases bone mass in women with osteopenia, J Am SocNephrol. 2006;17:3212.)

Copper is required to fix calcium in the bones and helps raise the tissue calcium level. Many people have biologically unavailable copper which causes their calcium problems. In fast oxidizers, copper deficiency contributes to a calcium deficiency.

Iodine is required for thyroid activity. Low thyroid activity is associated with biounavailable calcium and calcium deposition in the soft tissues. The best sources of iodine are fish and sea vegetables like kelp or dulse. Iodized salt is not as good a source. Boron apparently improves adrenal gland activity, which makes copper more available. Boron is found in nuts, beans, leafy greens and bone extracts.

Vitamins A and D are important for calcium utilization and are commonly deficient. Vitamin D is only found in enriched milk, fish oils and from sun exposure. Vitamin A is only found in fish oils and meats. Beta carotene must be converted to vitamin A. Low thyroid activity impairs the conversion. I always recommend vitamin A, not beta carotene.

Adrenal hormone levels at a high level in the blood and even tissues such as the hair, where they can be measured more easily, are also essential for proper calcium metabolism. Hormone tissue testing is a new field that is not well developed at this time, however, but will be in the future as it is excellent. Hormone replacement therapy, however, is not the best or only way to improve hormone production. Usually, a complete nutrition program including the mineral boron and others will improve natural hormone production. Infrared light is also extremely beneficial for calcium metabolism as are other methods that are far safer and more cost-effective as well.

CALCIUM ANTAGONISTS

Sugar upsets the calcium/phosphorus ratio in the blood more than any other single factor, according to researcher Dr. Melvin Page. It also stresses the adrenal glands and upsets the hormone balance which affects calcium metabolism.

Lead and cadmium antagonize and replace calcium in the bones and elsewhere. Hidden lead toxicity, for example, is an important cause of weak bones and osteoporosis. Tests for toxic metals may not reveal it when it is deeply embedded within the bones. A hair analysis may reveal it later as it comes out of the body through the hair and other routes.

Excessive fluoride replaces calcium in the bones, causing them to become brittle and weak. Sources are fluoridated tap water, some mineral waters, foods contaminated with fluorides from the soil and foods processed with fluoridated water like reconstituted fruit juices and soda pop. Some foods are naturally high in fluorides like tea. Drinking fluoridated water or consuming products processed with fluoridated water is a cause of osteoporosis.

Excess phosphorus binds calcium and impairs its absorption from the intestines. Sources are soda pop and diets very high in animal protein. Phytates found in high grain diets, soy and other beans bind calcium preventing its absorption. Excessive oxalic acid found in spinach, cranberries, rhubarb and tea can interfere with calcium utilization. Low stomach acid and low protein diets impair calcium utilization.

CALCIUM IMBALANCE TESTING

Serum Calcium. Calcium tests in the blood, urine, hair and elsewhere are often of little value. The body robs the bones to keep the blood level in a narrow range. A bone density test is therefore the best, but it too has flaws that we will mention. Also, in a healthy person, excess calcium is quickly moved from the blood into the tissues.

Serum pH. There is value, however, in a serum pH. An over-acidic body chemistry is another serious sign of a calcium depleted state. However, be warned, as the urine and saliva may not show this. Blood is a better measure, and the level of acidity can be very slight, but is important. Blood pH is rarely measured, but would be an excellent addition to a standard blood chemistry. It should be about 6.9 to 7.1 or at most 7.2. If it is less, however, it is a problem that most often involves calcium, although that may not be the cause. Diet, nutritional supplements and much more also influence pH. Thus serum pH is not a comclusive indicator of calcium imblance, but may well be something to consider in more detail to explore further with other tests, such as a bone density assessment, another unreliable test, or better with a hair tissue mineral analysis. Urine tests are a little better, offering a way to measure how much calcium one is excreting. However, they are subject to daily variations due to stress, hormonal factors and others.

X-rays are helpful to assess bone density. However, osteoporotic changes are a late indicator of calcium imbalance. Also, osteoporosis can be due to other imbalances besides calcium. The bones require boron, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper and phosphorus in addition to calcium. Low bone density does not necessarily indicate a greater need for calcium. A normal bone density test does not necessarily mean one’s intake is sufficient.

I use hair mineral testing by a laboratory that does not wash the hair in order to assess calcium needs. This is a tissue test. Calcium levels vary tremendously in the hair. The tissues become depleted long before blood tests or x-rays reveal a deficiency. Fast oxidizers generally have a low tissue calcium. This is due to excessive thyroid activity which lowers tissue calcium. Slow oxidizers often have a very elevated hair calcium level due to calcium precipitation in the soft tissues of the body. In this case, calcium becomes biounavailable. That is, an excess occurs in the tissues but it is not available to the body. It becomes essentially a toxic mineral, causing calcium deposits in the joints, arteries and elsewhere.

CORRECTING CALCIUM IMBALANCES

I prefer people obtain calcium from their diet. Three regular meals that include sardines, goat milk, goat cheese, eggs, nuts, seeds and greens will provide a healthful calcium intake.

When the hair calcium level is either above 100 mg% or below 35 mg%, I suggest supplementing with kelp, calcium citrate or calcium chelate. An adult dosage is about 600 mg of calcium and 400 mg magnesium daily. If the imbalance is severe, I may double the dosage. Synergistic nutrients must also be supplied.

CONCLUSION

Calcium is one of the most vital minerals in the human body. Imbalances are associated with serious illnesses including cancer, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease. Most diets are low in available calcium. Correcting calcium imbalances would improve the health of millions.

References

Jensen, B., The Chemistry of Man, 1983.

Kervan, L., Biological Transmutations, 1972, 1998.

Page, M., Degeneration-Regeneration, 1949,1980.

Pfeiffer, C., Mental and Elemental Nutrients, Keats Publishing, 1975.

Price, W., Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, 1949, 1979.

Schroeder, H., The Trace Elements and Man, Devin-Adair Company, 1973.

Wilson, L., Nutritional Balancing and Hair Mineral Analysis, 1998.

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