Importance of Calcium Supplementation
It's been well substantiated that calcium is an essential nutrient. After protein, fat and carbohydrates, calcium is the body's most abundant nutrient. Calcium carries the highest RDA of any other nutrient for a good reason. Calcium is required to form bones and teeth and is also required for blood clotting, transmission of signals in nerve cells, and muscle contraction. Decades of research have linked calcium's association with lowering high blood pressure and balancing cholesterol levels. Calcium is crucial, but what's the best source of calcium? Is one source of calcium better than another? Is there really a difference? Naturally, the most ideal source of balanced calcium, as well as other minerals and trace minerals, is from the foods we eat. But our daily Calcium needs often cannot be met by food alone - especially considering today's busy lifestyles and the depleted soil our in which many of our modern foods are grown. It can be difficult to get a balanced source of any essential nutrient.
A Brief History of Calcium Supplementation
In the early years of supplementation, all calcium was pretty much the same: a ground up inorganic substance (typically oyster shell) packed into hard tablets that early nutritionists hoped the body could absorb. Problem was, the body absorbed very little of this substance-much of it passed through the body untouched and unused. Thus the search for the perfect calcium began. Other sources and processing techniques have been explored: sulphate, lactate, phosphate, citrate; chelated and "micro," but not all sources of calcium are ideal for all blood types. And what about absorption? With all the new technology, have we seen much improvement? In fact, studies reveal that the body absorbs less than 10% of the most popular calcium tablets containing calcium lactate, calcium phosphate, or calcium carbonate. Through the years, the challenge with all of these approaches remained the same: Either the calcium sources were unfriendly to some blood types, or the inorganic source of the calcium remained the same, and regardless of processing the body still had to deal with absorbing an inorganic substance and attempting to convert it to a useful substance in the cells. This processing of nutrients requires energy from the cells - energy that could be better utilized in other important cellular tasks. What's more, even though those single-nutrient hard calcium tablets remain popular at the drug store, it's become standard knowledge that calcium must be taken daily with the appropriate complex of supporting nutrients, such as magnesium.
Better Questions, Better Answers
Up until now, the calcium question had been: "How can we make this substance better tolerated and absorbed by the body?" Dr. Peter D'Adamo asked a better question: "Can we find another source of natural calcium not only friendly to all blood types, but also one that the body can utilize readily with greater efficiency?" Better questions yield better answers, and Dr. D'Adamo found that natural calcium source: Maerl, a small red seaweed found only in the isolated areas off the coast of Southwest Ireland. Of all sources of calcium, Maerl has one of the lowest levels of undesirable contaminants - and one of the highest levels of absorption. Using Maerl calcium as a base, Dr. D'Adamo has crafted Phytocal, four different mineral formulas using unique cofactors and micro-mineral ratios specific to each blood type. Maerl-based sea calcium is composed of a wide variety of essential nutrients including calcium, magnesium, boron and zinc. Maerl is the only natural source of calcium with a broad enough buffering range to insure a phenomenal rate of bioavailability and utilization. In fact, in studies, Phytocal Maerl-based sea calcium achieved nearly double the buffering capacity of all other sources of calcium.
Maximum Buffering: Maximum Absorption
What is "buffering capacity?" We all have differing levels of acid/alkaline content in our bodies and digestive processes. These levels affect the absorption of minerals and vitamins. A supplement that is readily absorbed by one person may have trouble entering the system of another. Phytocal's unique sea-calcium is buffered by nature, which helps the calcium maintain a consistently high level of absorption from person to person, despite the differences in the acid/alkaline levels.
Calcium Tips Right For Your Type
What is "buffering capacity?" We all have differing levels of acid/alkaline content in our bodies and digestive processes. These levels affect the absorption of minerals and vitamins. A supplement that is readily absorbed by one person may have trouble entering the system of another. Phytocal's unique sea-calcium is buffered by nature, which helps the calcium maintain a consistently high level of absorption from person to person, despite the differences in the acid/alkaline levels.
Blood Type O
'Type O should continually supplement their diet with calcium, since the Type O Diet does not include dairy products, which can be the most concentrated source of this mineral. With the Type O tendency to develop inflammatory joint problems and arthritis, the need for consistent calcium supplementation becomes clear', writes Dr. D'Adamo in his book on menopause: 'You may have heard that a high-protein diet can lead to excess calcium loss, which can be a concern for any midlife woman. However, this is not a danger for Blood Type O, since you have naturally high levels of intestinal alkaline phosphatase, an enzyme made by the intestine to split dietary fat and help assimilate calcium. Furthermore, the high-protein Type O Diet actually causes an increase in intestinal alkaline phosphatase.'
Dr. D'Adamo's Phytocal O features balanced levels of the micro and macro minerals magnesium, iron, copper and zinc; manganese to help insure proper joint and ligament function, and micro-trace amounts of iodine to enhance thyroid function. Phytocal O also features nettle leaf (Urtica dioica), an important aid to proper intestinal assimilation.
Blood Type A
Dr. D'Adamo: 'Low levels of intestinal alkaline phosphatase and low hydrochloric acid make it difficult for you to digest meat and can make you vulnerable to osteoporosis.' Thus, additional calcium from middle age onward is advisable for Type A's. Dr. D'Adamo's Phytocal A features higher levels of the important antioxidant selenium, the gastric activating cofactors betaine hydrochloride, rennet and gentian root, plus the mineral-rich herb horsetail. Phytocal A also features significant levels of the important calcium absorption enhancer ipriflavone, and a small dose of vitamin A to enhance the activity of the calcium absorbing enzyme intestinal alkaline phosphatase.
Blood Type B
Dr. D'Adamo: 'Like Type O, you have relatively high levels of intestinal alkaline phosphatase to aid protein digestion and calcium assimilation.' Phytocal B features the blood type B-appropriate higher levels of magnesium, an important nutrient for nerve and muscle function; chromium to help balance carbohydrate function and proper doses of iron and copper --two important blood-building nutrients. Phytocal B also features higher levels of vitamin D and vitamin K - important calcium absorption cofactors.
Blood Type AB
Dr. D'Adamo writes; 'Low levels of intestinal alkaline phosphatase affect your bone health. Type AB has the highest incidence of osteoporosis of all the blood types.' Phytocal AB features blood type AB-appropriate higher levels of the important co-minerals magnesium, manganese and molybdenum; the stomach-acidifying cofactors betaine hydrochloride and rennet. Phytocal AB also features yellow dock as a gentle source of iron.
Clearcal
For those who, for some reason, cannot take the blood type specific Phytocal products, Dr. D'Adamo created a pure maerl calcium supplement, Clearcal.
How Much Calcium Do You Need?
The recommended level of calcium for adults age 19 through 50 years is 1000 milligrams per day. An intake of 1200 milligrams of calcium per day is recommended for those age 51 years and older. In other countries, calcium recommendations are lower, as low as 600 milligrams daily for adults.Factors which increase the risk of osteoporosis include small frame size, female gender, aging, heredity, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol, steroid use, early menopause, prolonged immobilization, and inadequate vitamin D.
Resources
Here is a list of plant foods and their relative calcium content. In most circumstances eating a plant-based diet will tend to provide, at best, marginal amounts of calcium (amounts shown are approximate milligrams):
- Soy or rice milk, commercial, 8 ounces - 150-500
- Collard greens, cooked 1 cup - 357
- Blackstrap molasses 2 Tbsp - 342
- Tofu, processed with calcium sulfate* 4 ounces - 200-330
- Calcium-fortified orange juice 8 ounces - 300
- Commercial soy yogurt, plain 6 ounces - 250
- Turnip greens, cooked 1 cup 249
- Tofu, processed with nigari 4 ounces - 80-230
- Kale, cooked 1 cup - 179
- Okra, cooked 1 cup - 176
- Soybeans, cooked 1 cup - 175
- Sesame seeds 2 Tbsp - 160
- Bok choy, cooked 1 cup - 158
- Tempeh 1 cup 154
- Mustard greens, cooked 1 cup - 152
- Figs, dried or fresh 5 medium - 135
- Tahini 2 Tbsp - 128
- Almonds 1/4 cup - 97
- Broccoli, cooked 1 cup - 94
- Almond butter 2 Tbsp - 86
- Soymilk, commercial, plain 8 ounces - 80
