Beth and I were at a friend’s backyard party recently, and one of the other guests mentioned that her doctor had advised her to start taking a calcium supplement.
Of course my antennas went up hearing this, and I’ll say when in social settings, I don’t like to bring up supplements unless I’m asked – and then I’m happy to give someone whatever time and advice they need.
However, I’m so passionate about this calcium subject, I couldn’t resist, and asked… “what type of calcium are you taking?”
She wasn’t certain but assured me the person at the drugstore said it was a popular brand and even “3rd Party Tested.”
I said you see these patio bricks we’re standing on, over 90% of calcium supplements, including the one you’re taking, takes the calcium from limestone rock like this. So, you’re supplementing the calcium in this delicious food we’re eating with a ground up rock.
Like most people, she was stunned by this, and asked if that could be why her stomach sometimes feels upset or bloated when she takes this supplement.
I confirmed this is fairly common, and many rock calcium users find it also messes with their ability to stay regular. In addition, typically rock calcium only helps slow bone density loss, instead of increasing or at least helping you maintain bone density.
This isn’t that surprising when we stop and think about it, because we don’t eat rocks and our bodies aren’t used to digesting and using minerals from rocks.
In fact, if we had to rely on eating rocks or soil we probably wouldn’t survive as our bodies wouldn’t be able to efficiently absorb and use the minerals. This is because they’re not in an organic state – they’re inorganic (chemistry definition of organic, not agricultural).
One of the reasons living plants are so key to our diets is they actively take inorganic minerals from the soil and convert them to organic minerals our bodies can more readily digest and use. This process is called chelation.
If minerals aren’t chelated, our bodies have to do a lot of extra work to get them to be “digestion ready”, which limits their value, especially as the years go by and our digestive systems tend to work less efficiently.
Another important point is when you eat food or take nutrients derived from plants in supplements, your body gets complementary co-nutrients that help your body use these nutrients.
Nutrients in plants don’t exist in isolation – they’re surrounded by other supporting nutrients that your body needs to use vitamins and minerals and function its best.
That’s why we recommend taking a plant-based calcium. The calcium is already in a digestion friendly organic state, and as a bonus you get other valuable minerals like magnesium and silica (which contains silicon) that are valuable to bone health and overall wellness.
Our favorite plant calcium is the AlgaeCal brand. It’s USDA certified organic and from a unique marine algae plant harvested off the eastern coast of South America. One of the advantages of being a plant from the ocean instead of the land is ocean algae offers a richer source of trace minerals.
AlgaeCal comes from a living plant that regenerates every 6 months instead of an inorganic rock that may have been formed thousands or millions of years ago. That’s a big difference in what you’re putting into your body.
Several research studies show that AlgaeCal can help you increase bone density, not just slow bone density loss. This makes it superior to what you’d likely experience with calcium sourced from rocks.
We’ve used AlgaeCal in our TrueOsteo+ supplement for almost 15 years, and users find it to be gentle on the stomach – including those who struggled to tolerate rock calcium supplements.
To truly support bone health, your body needs more than just calcium and magnesium, and TrueOsteo+ and the standard TrueOsteo formula give you these other key nutrients too.
The only difference between the two formulas is TrueOsteo+ also contains ashwagandha for stress support because stress and excessive cortisol can be damaging to bone health.
Please share this with any of your family members or friends who are taking a calcium supplement!
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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