is coral calcium safe

alwaysoptimistic...

I came across these concerns being discussed in 
regard to the use of coral calcium:


From an msm-msm message board:

Is it safe for children?

Concern:
"...some people believe coral calcium to be
 contaminated with lead"

Response:
"The analysis that we received for the Ecosafe
 coral calcium states that lead is 0.033 ppm
 compared to 387,000 ppm for calcium and 8,920
 ppm for magnesium. At that level I would not
 think that it would be much of a concern."
http://www.msm-msm.com/bbs/messages/2804.html


From a newsgroup posting:

Concern:
> My father (age ~68) is now into this coral
> calcium thing. He just had a case about two
> months ago where he had to pass a painful
> kidney stone and had spurs or something like
> that. He was taking other calcium supplements
> before, but just started the coral calcium
> about a month ago, and is taking more than
> the "recommended daily serving" on the 
> pill bottle (two pills a day).

Response:
"When Linus Pauling was touting his Vitamin C
 overdose, he was smart, because he knew that
 excesses are passed out of the body harmlessly.
 I believe this new calcium craze is another
 Linus Pauling act, however, unlike Linus
 Pauling, the touters of calcium risk a
 dangerous liability in that the body cannot
 emit excesses of calcium intake and
 leaves horrible side effects."
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22coral+calcium%22+safe&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=32f439af.0206120408.58d96be7%40posting.google.com&rnum=3

On the other hand, another post on the
BrunnerBiz.com message board, notes:

"Coral calcium is a mineral product that is
 very high in calcium (which oxygenates the
 body), but also contains other major and
 trace minerals, which means mineral toxicity
 will not occur, making it very safe for any
 person or animal to take."
https://www.brunnerbiz.com/wwwboard/messages/6.html


This would seem to indicate that the fear of
calcium toxicity is not a reasonable concern
when it is ingested in combination with other
minerals, which assist in assimilation and 
elimination of excess calcium.


Another newsgroup post says:

Initial post:
> The American scientific community has exploded
> with research on bio-calcium in the past few
> years. As a result, the benefits of calcium 
> are well documented. An article in the April
> 1996 issue of Reader's Digest (Calcium, The
> Magic Mineral) claimed that calcium deficiency
> causes seven major diseases, including high
> blood pressure, heart disease and steoporosis.
>
> About 140 more, including cancer and diabetes,
> will soon be added to the list. Because Coral
> Calcium is one of the best ways to rectify
> calcium deficiency, the health market is
> beginning to realize the benefits of Coral 
> Calcium. 
>
> This product will change medical history and
> preventive medicine procedures in America. 
>
> The best source of Coral Calcium to be found
> today is at Benchmark USA,

Response:
"Too much calcium can increase your risk for
 developing clots and kidney stones....800mg
 - 1000mg is  a day is safe." by Gary Stone, RN
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22coral+calcium%22+safe&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=19970906004100.UAA10506%40ladder01.news.aol.com&rnum=8


Overall, this would seem to suggest that coral
calcium is a safe way of supplementing your 
calcium intake, and is likely safer that a
supplement which doesn't have the benefit of
the trace minerals occuring in coral. It would
seem wise, nonetheless, not to go overboard
with the dosage, and to limit your intake to
800 - 1000mg per day.


Searches done, via Google:

"coral calcium" safe
http://groups.google.com/groups?num=50&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=%22coral+calcium%22+safe&sa=N&tab=wg

Searches via Google Groups:

"coral calcium" safe
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22coral+calcium%22+safe&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=32f439af.0206120408.58d96be7%40posting.google.com&rnum=3


Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that the 
answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog with
the researcher through the "Request for Clarification" process.

sublime1-ga

This answer demonstrates the inherent problems in recommending herbal
or "natural" remedies.  The fact is very little study has been done on
most of these products and there is little standardization.  The
references cited include such respected sources as message boards from
the companies selling some of these products (who make claims without
providing any sound, scientific backing, such as the claim on one site
that cancer is caused by lack of oxygen, and calcium "oxygenates" the
tissue), as well as that noted medical journal, "Reader's Digest". 
The fact is we can't really say what the safety of "coral calcium" is,
because there is no one such product - the contents of calcium
supplements claiming to be from coral will depend on the type of
coral, location grown, water pollutants, processing,
additional/alternate calcium sourcs, etc.  Furthermore, we are only
beginning to scratch the surface of sound scientific evidence (vs
anecdotal experience) regarding the interplay of all the various
nutrients and biological products in various human health conditions. 
Today's hot new nutritional recommendation may be found tomorrow to
cause some other bad outcome in another study.