When I started my journey into health, I was bombarded by information and didn’t know what to believe. Through 15 years of studying, consulting with thousands of clients and being a parent to three boys, I have learned to discern information and unlearn many myths previously ingrained. Calcium was one of those myths.
Calcium is a major member of the mineral family. Almost certainly you have heard that calcium is needed for strong bones and teeth but is that really the case?
The Benefits and function of calcium in our bodies:
a. a contributor to building strong bones and teeth
b. helps lower blood pressure
c. helps with muscle contraction
d. aids vitamin K in blood clotting
e. assists cell membrane function
f. regulates enzyme activity
g. helps regulate blood sugar
h. helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels
When you see a list like that you have to be amazed at the critical importance of this mineral. However, note that I write it helps, assists, contributes, regulates and aids these different functions. Calcium does not operate alone. It is a very important member of the mineral family but that is the keyword: member!
Calcium does not operate alone!
No single mineral, vitamin or enzyme in our body can function independently. Therefore we should never supplement or add any one of these elements individually without advice from a professional qualified in cellular nutrition. Calcium doesn’t build strong bones, it is one element that builds strong bones.
One of the key co-factors for Calcium is Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin that so many people living in cold and dark winter climates don’t get enough of. It is a combination of vitamin D deficiency, mineral deficiency, hereditary factors and hormone imbalances that create the condition osteoporosis seen mostly in women during and after their menopausal years. The bone mineral deficiency often occurs due to the robbing of minerals from the bones by the blood supply. Our blood supply will rob from the bones to maintain homeostasis(balance).
How to ensure you get enough calcium
The best way to ensure that you don’t suffer a calcium deficiency is via your diet. However, you need to know what to avoid as well as what is good for you.
Dark green vegetables such as spinach and kale are a great source of calcium and are best if sourced organically and grown in nutrient-rich soils. Another great source of calcium is sesame seeds. I encourage you to supplement your calcium via whole food sources because these sources are in a complete form readily absorbed by our bodies, i.e. a synergistic combination of minerals that can be actively used by your body.
On the “what not to do list” please note that soda drinks will aid excretion of calcium. This is so important to know for your children. Children are often the highest consumers of soda drinks at a time in their lives when they need calcium the most. Not only are they not eating foods rich in calcium but they are robbing their bodies through the use of soda drinks.
A high source of calcium is raw milk, that is milk that is neither pasteurized not homogenized. The pasteurization process causes the calcium to become insoluble. If you are interested in learning more about raw milk, contact me directly.
Supplementation of Calcium
When considering supplementation, you should consider supplementing ionic trace minerals and not calcium alone. I never recommend that anyone supplements calcium. In my experience most adults are mineral deficient and it is this deficiency that lies at the heart of most health challenges.
If you want to learn more about calcium and the myths we have been led to believe, watch this video:
you can order the book “The Calcium Lie” here!:
For more information on your mineral status, you can contact me directly at 425.999.0201 and I would be happy to offer you a 15 minute FREE consultation that will guide you to Optimal Cell Health!
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About Clare Kelway
From Mom and Homeopath to Network Marketing Professional, Clare is passionate about helping you create freedom in your life - equipping you with success and a naturally healthy life. Health and Financial stress are the two greatest stresses we experience. Clare has a part time natural health clinic and spends the rest of her time teaching people how to effectively build a network marketing business. She builds her business online and offline using blogging, online marketing and speaking engagements. She lives in Kentucky, USA with her husband and two of her three sons.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
Clare, I enjoyed reading about the benefits of calicum. Fortunately for me, I just bought a VitaMix Blender today, and a lot of spinach and kale for putting into my smoothies. And the best part is that I’m not juicing, but rather pulverizing, so that I’ll be consuming everything!
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Congrats on the purchase of your vitamix! The very best in blenders and yes, pulverizing is absolutely the way to go. Spinach and kale is probably better than I could do! I love blending Flax seeds with berries, yoghurt and greens. It makes for a wholesome start to the day.
regards
Clare
Hi Clare, I enjoyed your calcium post. I agree with you that the best source for getting your nutrients is from whole foods. I eat alot of leafy greens and they are an excellent source of calcium along with many other important nutrients. Thanks for shedding light on this important subject and for sharing the video.
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Excellent post Clare,
I especially liked the part about considering how Calcium interacts with other minerals. It seems like we live in times when the tendency is to think in terms of “this is good for you” or “this is bad for you” and not look at the subtleties of how what we take in interacts with other elements.
I also appreciate your mentioning leafy greens as a good source of calcium. I was vegan for a while and ate lots of greens and felt fine.
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thanks Paul! I will be covering minerals and foods later this year so you hopefully will learn more useful tips!
Hi Clare,
Very interesting.. My son is 2 yrs old and he drinks milk like it is going out of style. When you said that the calcium in homogenized, pasteurized milk is not soluble, does it mean that non of the calcium in the milk he drinks get absorbed? I find it pretty shocking if that is the case.
Fortunately he loves eating all kinds of things like nuts, fruits, and veggies, so I am sure that he will be fine regardless but I figured that most of his calcium was coming from the milk he drinks.
Thanks for the post, very interesting.
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Many minerals out there that are used in supplements have a lot of myths attached and old wives tales too. I remember back in the 80s watching TV and they ran a nation wide milk campaign “Milk does a body good. Pass it on!”
Milk does, but people do not realize how many other foods contain calcium, let alone other ingredients… even though a lot of products to have the nutrition label printed on them today.
Wow Clare, I lean something here… I realy did not know that Calcium could be found in these….
Dark green vegetables such as spinach and kale are a great source of calcium and are best if sourced organically and grown in nutrient-rich soils. Another great source of calcium is sesame seeds.
In my mind they were from such products as cheese and milk… I’m a big fan of dark green veggies too
cool Sadie, so glad I was able to help you with this one!
Be blessed,
Clare
I totally agree, the best source of calcium is through the consumption of whole organic foods and getting enough Vitamin D through sunlight. I am curious though if the minerals found in spring water – like the Mountain Valley Spring Water helps in supplementing minerals in our body? Or they are just misleading people?
hi Cherrie,
I don’t know that spring water but if it is genuine spring water, then it should be delivering what it says on the bottle. However, most waters tested never come up to their label claims, sadly.
the best way is via mineral salts or cell food.
Clare
Hey Clare,
I’ve been tell women for years now about the Milk and Calcium Myth. It’s about time people see the truth break into the main stream. Thanks for putting it out there, I know a great deal of people need to know this!
-Dereck
Hi Dereck,
Thanks for your confirmation of this myth. yes, people need to know the truth. That is what I have always sought. However, sometimes in the health industry, the truth hurts power but I am glad that via the internet more and more truth is being revealed. i am just beginning my journal into writing about health and healing, a subject that has occupied my life professionally over the past 15 years. When I started, my work, it was considered total quackery. It is still fringe for sure but slowly gaining ground. In my humble opinion, I am teaching common sense that comes straight from nature!
thanks for dropping by.
Clare
Being in alternative medicine and western medicine for years I find that making one thing the culprit in all our woes is sometime a bit of a wild statement. Although I haven’t read the book it can be a little misleading to say that taking calcium cases all those diseases he says in the video. Calcium, like other minerals, are a important part of physiology. Unfortunately, too many people take too much or self medicate and then the cascade of problems start.
Hey Clare, thank you for sharing this and dispelling some misconceptions about calcium. I also read from another post that contrary to popular belief, milk is not the best source of calcium and may even do more harm to our bodies. A better food source would be green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale and broccoli.
Hi Clare:
I have heard and believed many of these myths about calcium. Thanks for the shedding the light on this.
Kevin
Hi Claire ~ This is a great article. I have taken a myriad of supplements over the years of my life, mostly because as I learn more and more about our food I come to know that it is not as nutrient rich as it might once have been.
I’ve been prescribed, more or less, calcium as a part of a diet program I have been participating in for close to two years now. In that time I have deliberate dropped 110 pounds. In addition to taken calcium and fish oil and an anti-oxidant I am for bidden from drinking soda of any kind and quite frankly I don’t miss it a bit.
I am most definitely healthier now than I have been for quite some time. There was a time that I felt that I was just going to grow bigger and bigger until I popped. Thank god I found this doctor sponsored weight loss program. Now I am just 8 pounds from reaching my goal weight. And interestingly enough I appear to have more energy and focus than many of my younger friends and co-workers.
Thanks for a great article. I can’t wait to hear more of what you have learned about food and nutrition.
Hi Clare, I really appreciate your article on calcium. Too often people believe everything they hear and read by the medical profession. I lean toward the side of Natural Health and Healing instead of running to the doctor for a prescription to “fix” something. I like that you clarified about milk needing to be raw and not pasturized. If one does drink pasturized milk just be sure it doesn’t come from cows treated with the growth hormones rbst. That should help some.
Have a healthy day,
Lynn
Wow thanks Claire I didn’t know that! While it is true they talk Calcium all the time, in ads and such, they never talk about getting all of the other nutrients that are necessary! I will definitely pay more attention to getting the whole food and the whole supplimentation!
Hello Clare,
WOW! this was seriously great information! I mean seriously because it is really news to me. I will look forward to reading more of your wonderful posts on health and other subjects.
I have suggested calcium for many years to my customers when i was in herbalife… I would have loved to read this then…;) Our health is so precious and for women to know this information is vital… I will share as I feel it’s so crutial that people start making their own opinion about this and start looking at their diet more!
Thanks again Clare!
Nathalie
Clare,
Wow! What a fascinating post and what a compelling video by a Doctor that seems to Really know his stuff, especially if he wrote a book about it! I have even heard that Calcium supplements actually hastens the demise of the bones by changing the pH balance in the blood and / or depleting the bones of minerals, etc. So we have too much calcium and need more trace minerals for good bone strength. That sounds about right!
Thanks for the great information in a simple format!
Jupiter Jim
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Hi Clare,
What a great post and a real eye opener…
I have always been a proponent of alternative medicine and now even more so.
It’s amazing how these myths get passed on from generation to generation and we hear nothing to refute these findings.
Since I was a kid, I have also heard the myths about Calcium, so I’m not surprised to hear that we are ingesting too much calcium.
It is about time that the truth comes out. I knew that a blood test was far from conclusive of overall activity, but had no idea, it was so lacking.
But, with the Pharmaceutical Companies, AMA and all the special interest groups, it’s hard to get the real facts out there sometimes.
Thanks for shedding some light on this potentially dangerous health issue.
Marc
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Hi Marc,
yes, as an alternative health expert, it is sometimes challenging to determine how to best educate people on health and healing. There is a large organized powerful machine at work that doesn’t want the majority of people to know the truth. This is why I like to back up my opinions with other learned professionals so that my audience knows that I haven’t made up my thoughts. However, I believe that sharing this message is my responsibility so I have to determine how best to do that .
regards
Clare
Hi Clare,
I loved your post. Anything that gives another side from what is preached to us on health is a winner with me. I don’t doubt at all what you are offering in your post or in what is offered in the Calcium Lie book. It seems that sometimes when new knowledge is uncovered there are folks with ulterior motives who do not accept and spread the new knowledge. You have spread that knowledge very well here.
Our bodies are such a complete and comprehensive system that I know you are right that no minerals work alone. It is a well-balanced system and can act as such when we know how it works and treat it accordingly.
Thanks for introducing me to this health of concern and to the book The Calcium Lie.
(Dave) and Dawn
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My dear Clare, Thank you so very much for explaining calcium. So many people are clueless and listen to their doctors to take an over-the-counter calcium supplement. I can rant on that one but I won’t lol. The information you gave above is excellent. Every reader will take into account the many ways to get calcium and the many ways it is absorbed in your body. I use different modalities in medicine and have for a long time. When my doctor tells me what to do, I weigh his knowledge and other factors. Can’t blame the guy, his knowledge is limited to what he knows. This will certainly help people understand it better.
Gratefully yours,
Donna
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Hi Donna,
I am thrilled to say that in my experience doctors are changing albeit too slowly for many of us. The system is broken and the only remaining hope for people’s health is learning about nutritional science.
Be Blessed,
Clare
Wow, didn’t know spinach contained calcium. As I am lactose intolerant, I do take calcium & vitamin D daily. After reading this post, I’ll try supplementing with trace minerals, I’ve the drops sold at Whole Foods. As for spinach, I eat it all the time anyway so I should be good.
Thanks for the valuable information.
Clare,
What a great read. I had no idea how much there is to know about calcium. It just shows that we cannot just live our lives being oblivious to health facts. It will catch us in the end.
Thanks.
Hi Gary,
Yes, and blood tests do not tell us the whole story which is the traditional method of measuring our health. it bears no relation to the activity of our cells.
regards,
Clare
Hi Clare,
Thank you for this article for many reasons:
Pushing calcium is simply a way to make more money selling milk. Many years ago, I was taking calcium supplements which were combined with magnesium In order to “help calcium assimilate the calcium.” I’m questioning whether that was a lie or not.
I am approaching the “osteoporosis” age and I find your article very informative. It has always made sense to me that calcium was glamorized and I’ve always understood that one mineral or supplement can act alone.
I recently moved to a state which has characteristically different winters than I am used too. In other words, I will be cooped up more this winter. This article helped me to be aware of the effects of less light, thereby providing Vitamin D.
At the present time, most children are relentlessly hooked to drinking soda. Since soft drinks deplete calcium, I can see a huge problem approaching our children as they mature. We will continue to see all types of health problems, including the major ones such as diabetes and osteoporosis.
Thank you for sharing the video by Dr. Robert Thompson. I am interested in checking out his recommendations.
Raena Lynn
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Clare,
Wow, that was an eye opener. I know that carbonated drinks takes calcium out of circulation and affects your immune system, but I had not a clue that we may be over ingesting calcium.
Thanks for this info!
RICK
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That you for dispelling the Calcium myth, Clare. I wondered why Calcuim supplements, even calcium with vitamin D, never seemed to feel like they made much of a difference. When I started supplementing ionic minerals and started eating more organic spinach, I have found that I simply feel better than without. So, thank you for verifying this for me.
Love,
David
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