1.A reader asks, "Mike, I recently ran across a book titled 'The Calcium Factor,' authored by Robert Barefoot. He extols the almost miraculous healing powers of calcium, especially coral calcium. And I would like to know what you think about this. The fact that Bob Barefoot seems to have significant financial interest in the promotion of coral calcium causes me to regard with caution research and testimonials and his strong endorsement of coral calcium. Also, if one is supplementing with whole food supplements such as Alive or Juice Plus, is it also necessary to supplement with calcium and other vitamins and minerals?"
Well, first off, I want to applaud you for remaining skeptical of the health claims described in the book, "The Calcium Factor," not because of whether or not they are true, but because the person authoring the book has a significant financial interest in your purchasing calcium.
As you know, I never have a financial interest in the products that I recommend or review on this website. And, I think it is a great conflict of interest for anyone to both write about a nutritional supplement and sell that same nutritional supplement. It doesn't mean that they're wrong. It just means that their information must be taken in context.
I encourage you and other readers to live day-to-day with that kind of skepticism. We should all be skeptics of people who are trying to sell us products, especially if it's drugs or herbs or vitamins, because anything can have an element of hype or exaggeration to it. Just because someone is offering something that seems to be a natural vitamin or mineral supplement doesn't mean it's not being over-hyped.
In fact, there are many hucksters and con artists in the nutritional supplement industry, just as there are in the pharmaceutical industry. So, my position has never been that all nutritional supplements are good and that all pharmaceuticals are bad. It's just that if you're looking for what's truly healthy you're only going to find them from the natural world and never from the world of manufactured, synthesized drugs.
The category of nutritional supplements is definitely where you're going to find those supplemental products that enhance health rather than harming your health in the way that patent medications do. But, getting back to the question of calcium and more specifically, coral calcium, the fact is that Bob Barefoot is very much right about almost everything he says about calcium, but only for those people who are calcium deficient. In other words, the healing powers of calcium are indeed miraculous if you don't have enough calcium, because calcium is so intimately involved in human physiology that a lack of calcium has terrible systemic effects.
Most people tend to think of calcium as only having one purpose, and that is supporting bone health. And certainly, calcium is critical for having good bone density, but calcium is also critical for your nervous system and nerve function, which makes it essential for cardiovascular health. In other words, if you don't have enough calcium, your heart cannot contract in the way it is supposed to. Your brain will not function in as healthy a manner as it could if you had plenty of calcium. Your acid-alkaline balance may be disrupted without calcium. Your immune system function may be off. And certainly, your skeletal system is going to be affected, as well.
There are many systems in the body that need calcium. And, to a person who is calcium deficient, the addition of supplementary calcium can indeed seem quite miraculous. So, there's nothing incorrect about stating that calcium is a miraculous supplement. In fact, I think the human body is a living, breathing miracle all by itself. And the way that nature works is a miracle. So, there is nothing incorrect about using the term "miraculous" to describe the healing effects of some nutritional supplements.
The question becomes: How many people are calcium deficient? That is truly the relevant question in here, because if most of the population had sufficient quantities of calcium, then the claims made by Bob Barefoot on the benefits of calcium might be considered to be exaggerated. On the other hand, if the population were largely calcium deficient, then the claims describing the health benefits of calcium would have much broader application, and would be considered far more accurate.
2.Here are some of the many health-related companies I recommend. This list is not yet complete, as I'm adding to it frequently. None of these companies paid to be listed here. Comments are descriptions are my own opinions, not their claims. I sell no products listed here, nor do I earn any revenues whatsoever from their sale.
If your company has a product that you think should be on this list, mail a single sample, plus literature, to: the Health Ranger Review, 1820 E. River Rd., Suite #115, Tucson, AZ 85718.
Well, first off, I want to applaud you for remaining skeptical of the health claims described in the book, "The Calcium Factor," not because of whether or not they are true, but because the person authoring the book has a significant financial interest in your purchasing calcium.
As you know, I never have a financial interest in the products that I recommend or review on this website. And, I think it is a great conflict of interest for anyone to both write about a nutritional supplement and sell that same nutritional supplement. It doesn't mean that they're wrong. It just means that their information must be taken in context.
I encourage you and other readers to live day-to-day with that kind of skepticism. We should all be skeptics of people who are trying to sell us products, especially if it's drugs or herbs or vitamins, because anything can have an element of hype or exaggeration to it. Just because someone is offering something that seems to be a natural vitamin or mineral supplement doesn't mean it's not being over-hyped.
In fact, there are many hucksters and con artists in the nutritional supplement industry, just as there are in the pharmaceutical industry. So, my position has never been that all nutritional supplements are good and that all pharmaceuticals are bad. It's just that if you're looking for what's truly healthy you're only going to find them from the natural world and never from the world of manufactured, synthesized drugs.
The category of nutritional supplements is definitely where you're going to find those supplemental products that enhance health rather than harming your health in the way that patent medications do. But, getting back to the question of calcium and more specifically, coral calcium, the fact is that Bob Barefoot is very much right about almost everything he says about calcium, but only for those people who are calcium deficient. In other words, the healing powers of calcium are indeed miraculous if you don't have enough calcium, because calcium is so intimately involved in human physiology that a lack of calcium has terrible systemic effects.
Most people tend to think of calcium as only having one purpose, and that is supporting bone health. And certainly, calcium is critical for having good bone density, but calcium is also critical for your nervous system and nerve function, which makes it essential for cardiovascular health. In other words, if you don't have enough calcium, your heart cannot contract in the way it is supposed to. Your brain will not function in as healthy a manner as it could if you had plenty of calcium. Your acid-alkaline balance may be disrupted without calcium. Your immune system function may be off. And certainly, your skeletal system is going to be affected, as well.
There are many systems in the body that need calcium. And, to a person who is calcium deficient, the addition of supplementary calcium can indeed seem quite miraculous. So, there's nothing incorrect about stating that calcium is a miraculous supplement. In fact, I think the human body is a living, breathing miracle all by itself. And the way that nature works is a miracle. So, there is nothing incorrect about using the term "miraculous" to describe the healing effects of some nutritional supplements.
The question becomes: How many people are calcium deficient? That is truly the relevant question in here, because if most of the population had sufficient quantities of calcium, then the claims made by Bob Barefoot on the benefits of calcium might be considered to be exaggerated. On the other hand, if the population were largely calcium deficient, then the claims describing the health benefits of calcium would have much broader application, and would be considered far more accurate.
2.Here are some of the many health-related companies I recommend. This list is not yet complete, as I'm adding to it frequently. None of these companies paid to be listed here. Comments are descriptions are my own opinions, not their claims. I sell no products listed here, nor do I earn any revenues whatsoever from their sale.
If your company has a product that you think should be on this list, mail a single sample, plus literature, to: the Health Ranger Review, 1820 E. River Rd., Suite #115, Tucson, AZ 85718.
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