How Supplements Work
Calcium and Magnesium
In case you can't tell, this is a picture of me with one of my daughters setting up a walker, one of the gag gifts I received for my birthday to remind me that I'm getting old. Anyway, I chose this picture because it can remind us of how important calcium and magnesium are in preventing osteoporosis and what we need to learn about these minerals in relation to allergies and asthma.
Anti-inflammatory steroid medications commonly used by many of those with allergies and, particularly, with asthma, over time will cause calcium to be withdrawn from the bones. I mention calcium and magnesium together in this section because a lack of magnesium will also cause large amounts of calcium to be lost in the urine. Calcium and magnesium should both be taken together as a supplement and in the correct ratio. While you can buy them separately, it is convenient to get tablets that have them both together, and then you won't have to remember about taking the magnesium.
The proper ratio is half as much magnesium as calcium; so if you buy a combination calcium and magnesium supplement that has 1,000 mg of calcium per tablet, for example, make sure it has 500 mg of magnesium.
Puritan's Pride, my favorite company for buying supplements, has the lowest prices I've ever seen, and I trust their quality because they are one of the few companies whose B vitamins really work, so I think they know what they're doing. They even have coral calcium, which can be fairly expensive, at half the cost. They also have many other forms of calcium, including chelated and liquid. I'm still researching to find exactly which form of calcium is better absorbed; there's a lot of conflicting information, so I will keep you updated. Meanwhile, I would go ahead with the coral calcium or liquid calcium, and you can order simply by clicking on the Puritan's Pride logo further down on the left hand column. Make sure you get magnesium also, and remember to take both calcium and magnesium in the proper ratio as described above.
Trace minerals, also, are necessary for calcium to be absorbed. Trace minerals are minerals such as zinc, manganese, selenium, chromium. copper, cobalt, etc. The body only requires very small amounts of trace minerals---that's why they're referred to as "trace" minerals---but they are as essential to health as any of the vitamins. I can't emphasize this enough. In fact, I'm going to devote another page just to trace minerals. You may be surprised at what you learn there. (Page in Progress)
It may be possible to obtain enough trace minerals by following an excellent diet; however, if we eat food grown using commercial fertilizers, which decreases mineral absorption by the plants, or on land depleted in minerals, we will be deficient in those minerals. Seafoods, torula yeast, and kelp are dependable sources provided large quantities are taken daily. Green leafy vegetables and whole grains are also excellent if grown on mineral-rich soil without chemical fertilizers.
Otherwise, the only way to be sure of getting enough trace minerals is to take a supplement of them (Available from Puritan's Pride). And, by the way, they cannot be absorbed until they are first dissolved in the hydrochloric acid of the stomach. As we have seen (see the digestive system), this acid is frequently undersupplied or absent, especially when the B vitamins are inadequate. Poor absorption, therefore, can lead to deficiencies.
Getting back to calcium, in all my research I haven't come across much at all about the simple fact of needing fat in the diet to absorb the calcium you take. This surprises me because it's so important. Sometimes you find it mentioned in articles on dietary calcium, but hardly ever, and it's not emphasized enough. So that's my job here. Calcium doesn't dissolve easily, but even when it is, it still isn't carried through the intestinal walls without fat. Have you ever made soap? I did once, pretty interesting. Anyway, calcium combines with fat to form a soap, and it needs to be in this form in order to be absorbed or carried through the intestinal walls. I'm not saying it forms the same kind of soap we use in daily life. A "soap" is actually a chemistry term referring to the product of a saponification reaction. Simplified, it is the chemical combination of an alkaline substance (like calcium) with a fat or oil.
My friend Kathy, a Radiology instructor, has x-rayed people and been able to see calcium tablets in their intestines! Recently she told me she counted 5 of them throughout the intestines of a woman she x-rayed. So, even if your supplements are "quality", you may not be absorbing them. I remember when we lived on Maui in the late 70's and I got upset when the school system changed from giving the kids whole milk to 2%. The reason? Because if you're depending on milk as a major source of calcium, growing children need the fat in the milk to absorb the calcium in it. I remember they did this because of the trend of kids getting fatter. (Why not cut out the sugar and other junk in their diets, not the fat in their milk, to reduce calories?) It seems society continues to do dumb things nutritionally so the health of the population gets worse each year instead of better.
Note: Kathy (pictured above) is responsible for talking me into going water skiing all the time instead of studying for exams when we took a difficult, accelerated biochemistry class together one summer. I got a C...and she got an A. (At least I learned to water ski.)
Here's another thing: even though hydrochloric acid in the stomach can dissolve calcium and hold it in solution until it can combine with fat to be absorbed through the intestinal walls, sugar and other sweets stimulate the production of alkaline digestive juices, so calcium becomes insoluble before it can reach the blood. (There goes your cookies-and-milk idea, for your calcium source!) (And probably why at my age practically everyone's osteopenic!)
It's common to be deficient in hydrochloric acid. An insufficiency can result from a low intake of protein, vitamin A, B-1, B-2, B-6, pantothenic acid, niacin amide, choline, and other B vitamins. It's easy to be low in vitamin A if not enough vitamin E is acquired, since vitamin A needs to be protected by vitamin E. It's easy to be low in the B vitamins, since many brands seem not to "work."
Besides adequate hydrochloric acid, fat, and trace minerals, we also require sufficient vitamin D and bile in order for calcium to be absorbed.
Calcium is lost in the urine if vitamin D is not adequate. Some people with osteo show no vitamin D in their blood even when given 400-700 units of it; when 5,000 units were given daily, the amount in the blood was comparable to that found in elderly women living in the subtropics. Be sure to read the Vitamin D section, especially about possible toxicity of vitamin D.
And even if sufficient calcium has been obtained and well absorbed, large amounts can still be lost in the urine if vitamin B-6 and/or magnesium is undersupplied. Remember, cortisone drugs, as well as prolonged stress, also cause loss of calcium.
For information on supporting the body's bile production, see the digestive system section.
Absorption and retention are further increased by vitamin A, many of the B vitamins, citric acid, magnesium, and several amino acids from digested proteins. Calcium must be carried by the blood in solution before being available for bone growth. Vitamin D, being an activating substance, must be present or even increased calcium intake will not affect the tissues or blood calcium. The secretions of the parathyroid glands are factor in the utilization of calcium, making it possible for the blood to carry dissolved calcium. See the section Vitamins A and D for more information on this.
(Page in progress)