Calcium Cures
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Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth most abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.[1]
Calcium is essential for living organisms, particularly in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bones and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calcium
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Our readers offer information and opinions on Earth Clinic, not as a substitute for professional medical prevention, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult with your physician, pharmacist, or health care provider before taking any home remedies or supplements or following any treatment suggested by anyone on this site. Only your health care provider, personal physician, or pharmacist can provide you with advice on what is safe and effective for your unique needs or diagnose your particular medical history.
08/15/2009: Connie from Manitowoc, Wisconsin, USA writes: "Editor,
Somewhere, I can't find the page, Ted said that potatoes have as much calcium as milk. What I am finding is that potatoes have about a tenth the calcium of milk. See Harvard University's site: https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Calcium_content_of_selected_foods.htm
Naturally I would like to know who is correct. Does Ted have access to high calcium potatoes? Is this another instance of soil depletion in the USA?"
EC: The post you are referring to is here: http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/weight_gain.html#TED
Ted writes, ... "Since our food already has plenty of calcium, usually from vegetables, then magnesium is something we need more of. Very few people in fact know that an ordinary potatoes same serving has a lot more calcium then that of milk..."
08/18/2009: Thomas from Clemson, Sc Usa replies: "The USDA Nutrient content amounts, including calcium, can be downloaded as pdf files from:
http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=17477also, a site called bone builder lists calcium-rich foods at:
http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/fcs/bb/highCalciumFds.htmlHope this helps."
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11/15/2009: Bill from San Fernando, Philippines writes: "Hi everyone...Concerning Calcium, there is much research that I've read that would indicate that Calcium intake in the West is too heavily emphasized. The only period you really seem to need Calcium is in your growing years -- up to the age of 18. After that Calcium intake should be reduced. Much more attention should then be paid to Magnesium intake, which helps to regulate the Calcium in your body. This mineral is very important, and is involved in over 300 essential enzyme/catalytic processes in your body.
There is a tribe in Kenya (the name escapes me!!), on whom they did some research on Calcium. They found that the Calcium intake of this tribe was only 300mg per day. The normal daily RDA for Calcium is about 1000mg as recommended in the West. The results of this research showed that this tribe had virtually no heart disease and no arthritis. Another important fact here, the research team also found that the tribe had a very high intake of Calcium from their grain diets.
A research team also found that the incident of heart disease(HD) in Egypt was 10% of what it was in the West because, they concluded, the soil in Egypt was very high in magnesium salts. The Egyptian Fellahin peasant agricultural worker also had much lower incidents of HD than the population within the more westernized Egyptian cities, where more processed, western food is eaten.
If you have insufficient Calcium, you will always feel tired and run down. There is an important relationship between the calcium in your cells and calcium in your blood or plasma. The ratio should be be 1/10000 in this cell/plasma gradient relationship. Magnesium governs and regulates this ratio. If there is insufficient Magnesium to regulate the calcium in your body, then the concentrations of calcium within cells will be much higher, and the cells will have to continuously pump out the excess cell calcium to maintain proper gradient and balance. From research, a cell uses 30% of its total energy when pumping out calcium. Which is why your body feels so tired all the time if you have this lack of magnesium problem. Magnesium, in the proper amounts, should help to correct this.
If your calcium intake is not regulated with magnesium over the long term -- many years -- then deposits will form in outside tissues. Calcium deposits form significantly within the soft tissue cells like muscles and cartiledge -- particularly on the cell mitichondria which also become dangerously calcified. Magnesium has also been shown to correct this problem over time."
EC: This feedback is a cross-post from a thread on our calcium deposits page: http://www.earthclinic.com/CURES/calcium-deposits.html#RN_25222
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01/22/2010: Jordan from Houston, Tx writes: "Hi, okay..so I am 18 years old. I feel like my bones have been shrinking, or maybe they arent. I do seem to have smaller bones, like not thick and hard. So should i consider supplementing with calcium or magnesium??
Also I seem to get really confused on what type to buy. I remember reading not to get magnesium stearate or something but that always seems to be in the ingredients? So I would be awesome if someone could tell me which is which and which is best to use. Thank you."
01/25/2010: Bill from San Fernando, Philippines replies: "Hi Jordan...I'm taking Magnesium at the moment. I'm 60 y o and I still have big and fairly robust bones(touch wood!!). My purpose in this regimen is to avoid the inevitable osteoporisis, arthritis etc that occurs in older age.
I've been taking both Magnesium Bicarbonate internally as well as Magnesium Sulphate (or Epsom Salts) externally for some time now.
According to Ted, we all eat too much Calcium anyway, so once you are over 18 -- and once your bones have grown and formed, you should not need extra calcium in your diet because everything is fortified with calcium these days and too much unregulated calcium can be harmful. Magnesium, as well as trace boron and iodine are also necessary for healthy bones and proper regulation of calcium both within the bones and within tissues.
Magnesium is also essential for women approaching or at menopause, magnesium helps to prevent bone erosion and shrinkage, osteoporosis etc. that can happen at this stage in a woman's life.
Here is my internal regimen:
I mix up a solution that consists of 1 litre of plain soda water(no additives) 3 tablespoons of Philips Milk of Magnesia(no aluminium) according to the recipe given at this website:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f11/make-your-own-magnesium-bicarbonate-drink-tastes-sweet-46555/
Thus the Magnesium Hydroxide in the Milk of Magnesia is fully converted to Magnesium Bicarbonate, a very useful and healing form of Magnesium. As well, a large amount of bicarbonate ions is taken into your body which fortifies and gently alkalizes the intestines, as well as making cellular respiration throughout the body more efficient.
To this 1 litre MagWater mix I also add 3 teaspoons of natural seasalt 1/4(for male) or 1/8(for female) tspn borax(20 Mule Team Borax brand). To drink this mix, I pour out 1/10 of a glass with the Mag/Seasalt water, and fill it to the top of the glass with ordinary water. I drink this all slowly and take 2 glasses a day or every other day, depending on how I feel.
My external protocol using Magnesium Sulfate (organic Epsom Salts), consists of soaking my feet in a small amount of warm water in a bowl -- just enough to cover my toes so that the soles and heels of my feet are completely underwater. To this soak, I add 3 large tbspns of Mag Sulfate (Epsom salts), stir it in and soak my feet, absorbing the Mag sulphate thru the skin, for half an hour (You can also use 3 cups of Epsom Salts in your bath -- but this seems wasteful to me). This is a very quick way to increase your Magnesium levels, much quicker than smaller ingested doses. The first time I used this soak was at 9:00 at night. By 10 o'clock that night I was feeling tired and very relaxed (I never go to sleep before 12 at night), so I went to bed and had the best sleep I've had in years and I was up, wide awake and smiling at 6 am the next morning. I do this soak protocol religiously once a week now or if I have any aches and pains in my body, always works.
I also have an ordinary garden plant sprayer, with an 8 oz container that contains water, 1 tblsp Epsom salts, 1 teaspoon borax (20 Mule Team Borax). After I've had a shower and dried myself, I lightly spray most areas of my body, rub it all around and let it dry and be absorbed into my body. Oh, this also seems to stop or remove excessive body odours completely as well.
I also take kelp tablets for the minerals and iodine, to keep those pesky microbes at bay and to maintain a healthy immune system. As well, I regularly use Ted's alkalizing remedies -- Baking Soda 1 X lemon/lime (or 2 X tbspns ACV) -- which can be found on this website here:
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/alkalizing_formulas.html
I've never felt better."
01/25/2010: The_phoenix from Townsville, Australia replies: "Hi Jordan,
Normally the bones grow quite healthily all by themselves so we don't need to worry about them to much. The most common exception to that rule is osteoporosis (OP). To check for OP talt to your Doctor about a bone density test ... they are quite cheap and easy to perform (in some places, like pharmacies, you can get a bone density test for free).
At 18 years of age most of your growth is over so you only need be concerned about getting the recommended amount of Calcium (Ca) and Magnesium (Mg) for the average adult.
Because we all lead busy lifes we often forget to check the important things so it does pay off, in most cases, for people to make a list of the major minerals and, using the food labels, count the total amount of each that they are consuming in a day (Sulphur, Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Silicates, Magnesium and Sodium etc). You should close to the recommended daily intake [RDI] for each.
(Note that the RDI's are guidelines only and some individuals might need more or less but in the absence of expensive and time consuming testing the RDI's are the foundation stone of good health).
Re What supplements should you take:
- Google [calcium supplements] or [magnesium supplements] and you will find miles of good introductory material
- the rule of thumb for pills is "if it won't dissolve in a glass of water or a small amount of acetic acid then it won't dissolve in your stomach so don't take it
- Calcium needs some cofactors to absorb properly so consider supplementing Vitamin D at the same time (Cod Liver Oil is one source of VitD).
- it is recommended, by most pundits, that you should take Ca/Mg in the ratio 2:1 but in my opinion 1:1 is a better insurance policy (Mg is cheap and it can not build to toxic levels in the body so it is better to take too much than not enough
- the body can excrete minerals it does not need but can not acquire them (unless you put them into the body) so as a rule of thumb always take a little more than required but do not exceed the recommend Upper Limits unless so adviced by a health professional).
- read through the material at the EC Calcium and Magnesium pages:
http://www.earthclinic.com/Supplements/calcium.html
http://www.earthclinic.com/Remedies/transdermal-magnesium-therapy.html
Additional Resources (not already listed on EC/Calcium):
- US regulatory sites
http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/index.aspx
http://www.health.gov/DIETARYGUIDELINES/dga2005/document/default.htm
- http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/"
01/26/2010: Bill from San Fernando, Philippines replies: "Jordan...Sorry, I forgot to answer your last question.
According to Ted, there are three reasons to take magnesium:
* As a laxative in the form Philips Milk of Magnesia(no alumnium). Here you take a fairly large concentration of Magnesium Hydroxide in solution, and due to the high pH, this draws out salts and water from your blood and creates looser stools and/or diarrhea. Used for constipation problems.
* As a supplement, Magnesium is used to replace your mineral electrolytic balance in your body and is an important mineral -- because it is used in over 300 enzyme processes within your body.
* Magnesium, in low concentrations and small amounts, can also be taken with food. This slows the passage of the food through the intestines, and therefore ensures greater absorbtion of nutrients from the food.
The best forms of Magnesium supplement are:
Mag Chloride
Mag Sulphate
Mag Citrate
Mag Bicarbonate
Mag Gluconate
The worst and most insoluble and unabsorbable forms of magnesium to take as a supplement are Magnesium Hydroxide and Magnesium Oxide -- these are only ever used as laxatives. Never buy this form as a supplement -- useless.
Further reading here:
http://curezone.com/blogs/fm.asp?i=985360"
02/19/2010: Bill from San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines replies: "Hi...Just some final points concerning magnesium supplements.
As a general rule, you shouldn't really take mag supplements with food as they may not be absorbed well in the presence of other minerals like Iron, Calcium and Zinc which all compete for the same receptors for absorbtion into your body from the intestines. Which is why I always prefer creating my own Mag water to drink one hour before or two hours after eating a meal, to allow the magnesium supplementation in solution to be fully absorbed properly and completely."
02/21/2010: Susie from Las Vegas, Nv replies: "Bill, I was wondering exactly what you put in your mag water. How much magnesium and what kind, to how much water ?"
02/22/2010: Bill from San Fernando, Luzon, Philippines replies: "Hi Susie...I use a Mag Water recipe from this link which works quite well:
http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f11/make-your-own-magnesium-bicarbonate-drink-tastes-sweet-46555/
I've also started to take Magnesium Sulphate crystals -- 1/4 tspn in a half glass of water several times a day and nowhere near meals.
But the Mag bicarbonate is equally important for the bicarbonates it provides for your body."
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