There is much confusion on Calcium. Unfortunately most calcium supplements are made of Calcium Carbonate. This product is made from rock, limestone. It is a cheap way to make calcium and fairly simple. The good thing about it is that it is already in a 5:1 ratio with Magnesium. That is the proper ratio for the body. But that is the only good thing about it.

Calcium Carbonate is extremely hard to digest. Well of course it is, it is rock. This takes a huge amount of Hydrochloric Acid which the stomach uses to digest food leaving not enough food for digestion. Over time this can drive the ph in the stomach and upper small intestine above the optimum 2-3. A ph over 5 by the way stops the body’s digestion of protein.  In other words no protein will get broken down to the amino acid which is what the body needs.

Another problem with Calcium Carbonate is it takes twelve steps to convert once taken to Calcium Bicarbonate which is what our bodies require. This causes a lot of energy to be drawn from the body that can be uses for other functions.

Additionally, Calcium Carbonate is dead Calcium. Calcium in the body is always a neutralizer. Therefore it will pull Calcium out of the body in order to neutralize it. This of course causes a large problem long term.

Thankfully Calcium Bicarbonate, which the body needs has a close sister. It is Calcium Lactate. It takes only one step to convert to Calcium Bicarbonate. In all cases where a patient needs Calcium I use Calcium Lactate. It is made from plants and is by far the best choice. It is five to one with Magnesium and a soft Calcium, easy to digest. Patients react great with it and it is a bone builder.

All supplements also require a good digestive system in order to assimilate the nutrients that one needs. Though we use digestive enzymes in order to accomplish this proper eating is essential. Below are a few tips that will help.

Once your digestion is properly functioning eat:

Protein to help your body absorb calcium and build a structure to

support

Vegetables and fruit for minerals, vitamins and pH balance.

Fats to help absorb and assimilate vitamins and minerals – calcium

and its cofactors.  This includes raw fats, not fats from processed foods.
Exercise & Sunshine – Get out and exercise 30 minutes three times
a week.

 If you are taking Calcium Carbonate evaluate your supplementation. I addition if one is on long term Calcium it is important to make sure that the calcium/phosphorus ratio is not off. Bad calcium can wreak havoc on that ratio. As always if there are any questions about Nutrition, Chiropractic, Acupuncture or Sinus Therapy our number is 314-843-9344. You can also get on the website schoppnutritionclinic.com and read the lifestyle lessons. Just click on nutritional lessons. Lesson 16 is on Calcium.

 

The last blog I spoke about Vitamin B. In addition to what we spoke of we have to look at Methylation when it comes to the topic of Vitamin B. Methylation is a process that occurs in every cell of our body. It is why the bad amino acid Homocysteine is converted to Methionine and also responsible for the metabolism of Folate. Homocysteine actually scratches blood v...essels if levels are too high. This in turn heart attacks, strokes as well as dementia. When the MTHFR enzyme is impaired then other Methylation reactions are compromised. This can affect the neurotransmitters of the brain leading to depression. It has also been linked to fertility, cancer, birth defects, autism, migraine’s, energy levels, and moods. There is also evidence that shows that mutations in the MTHFR gene are linked with both type 1 and 2 Diabetes.

Folic acid is converted to a form usable by our bodies by Methylation. This is what converts Homocysteine to Methionine. If this is not occurring Homocysteine, a predictor of Cardiovascular disease increases dramatically. We can see this on a Cardiometabolic from Spectracell which shows many markers for heart disease. These can all be corrected with nutritional products preventing a heart related problem instead of waiting to it occurs. It is always wiser to get checked and get the proper nutrition to reduce risk before a cardiovascular incident.
When a patient tests positive for this it always changes the course of treatment. Instead of giving the patient whole food Vitamin B I change it to a methylated source. B6 and B 12 (methlycobalamin) and the active form of Folate (5-Methyltetrafolate) are needed in order to drive the Vitamin levels up, decrease the Homocysteine and reduce the patients risk greatly. Each patient also has other treatment parameters according to their particular physiology in order to make the treatment effective. In the latest blog I spoke about Vitamin B shots which are of course the wrong treatment. Synthetic Vitamin B will certainly make one feel better for a time but is not a proper treatment as Synthetic Vitamins are not natural and will cause harm eventually.

In addition to the above other nutrients are involved in Methylation. Vitamins B2and B3, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Magnesium, Glutathion, Serine and choline can be deficient. It is never advisable to self treat. I see many who do this. They normally use the internet as their source where anyone can put anything. For example they may take Zinc and throw off their Zinc Copper ration. Or they may use Calcium Carbonate (limestone) and greatly impair digestion and throw off their Calcium Phosphorus ratio. I will be speaking about the problems with Calcium supplements in a future blog. Almost every patient I see that are taking Calcium are taking Calcium Carbonate which is simply the worst Calcium when we look at the physiology of the body. Always remember over the counter supplements are not whole food but fractions of the whole food which with time will cause deficiencies.

Unfortunately in our society we have left the concept that we need to eat well and get the proper nutrients. And when we do the mineral content in the soil is now so low that we get little nutrients. For example in 1955 one cup of raw spinach had the amount of minerals that today we would see in 55 cups. The average top soil in the USA was 18 inches. Now it is down to 6 inches and destroyed with pesticides and herbicides. People reach for drugs instead of proper nutrition. It is nutrition that makes the body run. This is why I always have my patients on whole food supplements.