Spotlight on Coral Calcium

by Tamara Schryver, RD

The nutritional supplements industry is booming, selling $18 billion worth in 2001 alone. Is all of that cash being spent on supplements that do what they promise?
Take the case of coral calcium supplements, now widely touted on a TV infomercial and numerous Web sites. If all the claims were true, this supplement would be the health miracle of the century.
Here's Prevention's scoop on coral calcium, plus clues to help you spot nutrition nonsense anywhere you find it.

One Product, a Thousand Cures
One spokesman for coral calcium supplements, Robert Barefoot, reports claims by others that calcium deficiency can be linked to many degenerative diseases, including cancer and heart disease, and that high doses of calcium can even help cure terminal cancer.
But, according to Robert Heaney, MD, professor of medicine with the Osteoporosis Research Center at Creighton University and member of the Food and Nutrition Board, which sets the recommended calcium intake for the US, "Low calcium intakes are linked to osteoporosis, high blood pressure, colon cancer, and kidney stones, but not nearly the 200 diseases claimed by some Web sites."
Watch out for: The one-supplement-cures-all approach, especially when it applies to cancer.

What Doctors Won't Tell You
Mr. Barefoot implies that the FDA, drug companies, and medical doctors are withholding the good news about coral calcium and other supplements in an effort to sell more prescription drugs.
But, as Dr. Heaney says, "If coral calcium did everything its promoters say it does, doctors would love to tell their patients about it--and take it themselves!"
Watch out for: People who make the claim that doctors are holding back on you.

Profiting Prophets
If you take the six to nine capsules of coral calcium a day that Mr. Barefoot recommends when you are really sick, the cost could be as much as $86.85 a month. For that price, you'll be getting a little more than 1,000 mg of actual calcium a day, which falls within the current calcium Daily Value of 1,000 to 1,200 mg.

Spotlight on Coral Calcium
But you can buy the same amount of calcium as store-brand calcium carbonate for less than $7 for a month's supply--which means you'll be paying about 12 times as much for calcium if you buy Mr. Barefoot's product. Even if you take just the three capsules a day of coral calcium that he recommends for healthy people, you'll be spending $28.95 a month, or four times as much as calcium carbonate will cost you.
Plus, there's this advice on one Web site: The more you take, the faster you get well. Not true, says Dr. Heaney. There's a safe upper limit for calcium intake of 2,500 mg a day. Dr. Heaney recommends getting calcium from food first. Then, if you're still falling short, take a calcium supplement in a reasonable price range.
Watch out for: Nutrition information that ends in a pitch for a product.

Too Good to Be True
One cheerleader for coral calcium says their product is 100% absorbable in 20 minutes, while only 5% of standard calcium carbonate is absorbed in 20 hours.
"Impossible," says Dr. Heaney. "No calcium source is absorbed 100%. Plus, absorption in 20 minutes would have to take place in the stomach, and calcium is actually absorbed in the small intestine." And here's the kicker: Coral calcium is calcium carbonate, so it's highly unlikely that it would have a different absorption rate.

Watch out for: Claims so spectacular that they fly in the face of common sense.

Best Ways to Get Calcium
Here are some simple ways to increase your calcium intake:
Cream your morning coffee with 1 tablespoon of nonfat dry milk.
Calcium boost: 53 mg
Snack on low-fat flavored yogurt.
Calcium boost: up to 350 mg
Order latte. An 8-oz latte combines equal amounts of coffee and milk.
Calcium boost: 150 mg
Enrich a salad with 1/4 cup of low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese.
Calcium boost: 204 mg
Enjoy an 8-oz glass of ice cold 1% milk (white or chocolate).
Calcium boost: 300 mg

Tamara Schryver, RD, is a food and nutrition writer currently pursuing her doctoral degree in nutrition at the University of Minnesota.