Coral Calcium Supplement

Fitness and wellness have become such great buzzwords nowadays that people are always looking for shortcuts to good health.

Dietary supplements are being heavily advertised and are being purchased in large quantities by people all over the world. .

Coral calcium supplements have for some time been the rage in the US. Technically put, coral calcium is "remnants of living coral that have fallen from coral reefs, as a result of wave action or other natural processes" (Wikipedia). Ostensibly they are derived from coral reefs, but since harvesting them from there is prohibited, grinding above ground limestone deposits derives them.

The makers and sellers of coral calcium dietary supplements claim that it has many benefits and can cure and treat anything and everything. It is an unalterable fact that calcium is needed in abundance for the bones in our body, but they claim that adding coral calcium supplements to our diets will give us benefits ranging from cleansing our kidneys to curing Alzheimer's and 200 other diseases.

Any regulatory authority does not govern dietary supplements, particularly the new ones such as coral calcium supplements. Their claims are not supported by research or any scientifically supported data. Research studies claim that coral calcium is absorbed better, research done on rats showed a greater ratio of reserved calcium. But none of these reports substantiate their far ranging claims nor are they able to provide any data on the kind of results that have so far been seen.

These tablets are being sold at an exorbitant cost, and are unfortunately being lapped up by consumers worldwide. The cost of an ordinary generic calcium tablet is not more than 5c per tablet. Whereas these coral calcium dietary supplements are being sold at over $1.00 per tablet. They provide no greater benefits than the regular calcium tablets, apart from creating a greater hole in your pockets.

Among some of their claims are:

" Coral calcium balances your pH levels for better health ". They can only modify the pH level of your urine - and this in no way can help cure major diseases.

"Helps strengthen bones and teeth" All calcium helps in doing this. Even an ordinary calcium tablet can do that; you do not need an expensive coral calcium supplement for this.

"Cleanse kidney, intestines and liver, while breaking down heavy metals in the body ". There is absolutely no data to support this claim, as with all other claims.

In 2003, Federal Trade Commission took action against Coral Calcium Supreme by banning them from making false and unsubstantiated claims in their infomercials. In 2005, Consumer Reports tested 2 samples of coral calcium supplements and found that they did not come up to the California Lead standards.

Despite all these warnings and danger signals, coral calcium supplements are being sold to gullible customers. They are expensive, provide little extra nutrition, do not cure serious health problems, and yet a Google search on them yields over 100 different brand names still being sold and bought.