What Does One MLMer Have To Say About Coral Calcium?
Dear Karl,
Hi, I am one of those MLMers you love!
I sell both Coral Calcium Supreme and Seasilver.
I am sold on the Seasilver, having used it and experienced it. The Coral Calcium Supre i am just learning about and just started. I am not sure I need it as the Seasilver seems to cover most of my nutrient needs.
But I
personally know of several people who have had pain relief soon after starting
the coral calcium.
Truth reigns supreme and I appreciate your efforts in shedding light, even if I
may not agree with all of your 'research'. If either of these products fall
short of benefits to their users, I will surely stop selling them.
Here is an interesting article about sea coral bone grafts:
http://www.beaumonthospitals.com/pls/portal30/cportal30.story_page1?l_recent=46
Here is another link with 'good' research. (An Independent lab probably paid for
by the 'winner' of the study.)
http://www.livebetternow.com/Corallab.html
I understand a fair bit about ORP, pH and bioavailability, but I would like to
know why the Coral Calcium people say it is biologically active. Barefoot's
book , Death by Diet, talks about microbes found in the Coral Calcium.
All the best,
Cynthia
First, I want to compliment you on the polite ness of your message. Most people who write about their disagreements with me are emotional, not logical. They are angry. This is particularly true of people who have gotten into some MLM and feel, somehow, personally offended when I declare that MLM to be a fraud.
So, thanks for your politeness.
I will publish your letter, and my reply, and ask you to read my reply on the web site. It would be up to you, of course, whether you read all of what I've now added to my pages about the fraud of Coral Calcium. (SeaSilver I will treat separately.)
Next, I want to repeat that my criticism of Coral Calcium as a fraud is NOT based on using any. It may well "work," since there are very powerful placebo effects involved when a whole army of enthusiastic MLM distributors all believe something to be true, and convey their enthusiasm to a new customer. Any run-of-the-mill scientist knows that the placebo effect produces at least 25% of the good results from most tests, and it can easily be higher.
One recent test showed that a sugar pill was reported to give better results than the actual Prozac that was being tests.
After thousands of studies, hundreds of millions of prescriptions and tens of billions of dollars in sales, two things are certain about pills that treat depression: Antidepressants like Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft work. And so do sugar pills.
A new analysis has found that in the majority of trials conducted by drug companies in recent decades, sugar pills have done as well as -- or better than -- antidepressants. Companies have had to conduct numerous trials to get two that show a positive result, which is the Food and Drug Administration's minimum for approval.
What's more, the sugar pills, or placebos, cause profound changes in the same areas of the brain affected by the medicines, according to research published last week. One researcher has ruefully concluded that a higher percentage of depressed patients get better on placebos today than 20 years ago. (source)
No, I do not examine reports of testimonials. I do use testimonials to promote my own products, but I do not depend on them and I back up all my products with very extensive science and research study. But, when there is ZERO science, and only testimonials, I am very skeptical. That is the case for coral calcium.
In addition to ZERO SCIENCE for Coral Calcium there is another aspect of this product that is rotten to the core, and reflects on a sickness in society -- a sickness which is partially being created by Mr. Barefoot, and even more being taken advantage of by him.
I now make reference to psychobabble. I define that word as the deliberate use of a word that, by itself, has a standard dictionary definition. But, when used in some phrase by the promoter, that word can have no possible meaning.
A good example is another MLM fraud where the product is supposed to "balance the blood." There is no possible meaning to the word "balance" in this usage, although the word itself, has meaning. It is, in fact, Seasilver that uses this fraudulent phrase:
What is Seasilver's Foundational Health Program?
The combination of ingredients in Seasilver creates a complete Foundational Health Program. Seasilver is designed to BALANCE your body chemistry, CLEANSE your vital organs, PURIFY your blood and lymphatic system, NOURISH your body at the cellular level, OXYGENATE your bodie's cells, PROTECT your tissues and cells against toxins and STRENGTHEN your immune system (source)
One of the examples I found with coral calcium was the constant reference to "100% Pure Marine Grade" calcium.
Here is one of those examples, on this web:
100% Pure Marine Grade from Okinawa Japan.
You can click on that headline and go to a Coral Calcium promotional claim that uses the term "marine grade." There is no such thing. I have spent considerable time gather the extensive evidence that "marine grade calcium" is a term ONLY used on the deceptive web pages promoting coral calcium. That study is HERE.
You might say, as several have to me -- those who write the usual angry letters, "Well, Karl, you should know that much advertising and promotional material is not 'true,' and that you should not fall for it!" This is generally written by people who HAVE fallen for the deceptive material.
If there is ZERO Science, and deliberate psychobabble connected with some product, and you add in that it is an MLM company and uses testimonials extensively, you have a sure-fire loser in terms of honesty and value -- what I call a fraud.
Now, Cynthia, you suggested two links that might make me change my mind about coral calcium.
I seldom do this, but in your case I have gone to look at those links, and having written all the above before doing that, I now commence my research into your link referrals.
You wanted me to visit:
Here is an interesting article about sea coral bone grafts:
http://www.beaumonthospitals.com/pls/portal30/cportal30.story_page1?l_recent=46
I did look at that page, but there were no actual scientific studies there. I easily found them, however.
It is certainly true that actual coral is used for human bone transplants. I have found eleven different studies that describe this. They are ALL PUBLISHED HERE, and I have reproduced one example below.
A biomaterial derived from natural corals with surgical applications is the calcium carbonate Biocoral. Since 1992 the author has been using this material as a bone graft substitute in maxillofacial surgery. Eighty-nine clinical implantations were done in 68 patients for different indications. The results suggested that coral grafts are well tolerated and are simultaneously partially ossified as the calcified skeleton is resorbed. Clinical cases show that use of this material has been successful.
The reasons why coral is used as a human bone substitute are obvious. A live human cannot spare much bone for a transplant, and cadavers have proven to be a very poor source of bone. So, many alternatives have been tested and coral seems to work well.
I don't think that means that if you grind up the coral (which means heat) that you can swallow it and get benefit. The fact that pieces of coral can be grafted into a human bone does not mean that coral calcium has any value.
This is another of the deceptive practices followed by many MLMs. Here is an example:
Many of the claims associated with Coral Calcium are NOT related to Coral Calcium, only, but to any form of calcium. You get excited, think that Coral Calcium is the ONLY form of calcium that does this? Not true.
BLOOD - Calcium in the blood is essential for clotting by activating vitamin K (prothrombin) which is the first stage in wound healing. (source)
Your other link reference was, of course, another coral calcium distributor.
Here is another link with 'good' research. (An Independent lab probably paid for by the 'winner' of the study.) http://www.livebetternow.com/Corallab.html
I have visited that web site. The research you are probably referring to is HERE.
I'll have to come back to this because other duties are now intervening, but I notice right away that most of the products used to compare with Coral Calcium are terrible sources of calcium -- for instance Tums.
Also omitted here is the fact that calcium has many uses in the body and that some of those uses are so different from other uses that it is not valid to compare a type calcium (like "CalMag") which is designed to relax your muscles, with some other form of calcium intended for increasing bone density.
My own form of calcium is NOT unique to me, although my entire formula is unique to me.
Microcrystalline Calcium Hydroxy Appatite is the basic type of calcium in my Bone Dense Calcium. It is the only type of calcium proven to ADD to bone density -- which I don't believe Coral Calcium makes any claim for. Since many of the claims for coral calcium are actually psychobabble, any test would be rather meaningless in any event.
More to come.
Karl Loren
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LAB COMPARISON OF CALCIUM and
CORAL CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS
Supplemental
calcium tablets sold in the stores are not always a pure form of calcium.
Most have calcium components combined with stabilizers. First these
tablets must be dissolved by digestive secretions (HCl) and then ionized
in order to be effected. "Only a small part of the original compound
actually gets dissolved and ionized."
Tests of over-the-counter calcium based supplements that are most often recommended by physicians and pharmacist were conducted by an independent laboratory. COMPARISON PROCEDURES The tests were designed to measure the pH, the oxidation-reduction capabilities, the electrical conductivity, and the ability to counteract the rouleauing effect on erythrocytes (which will vary depending on the degree of acidity within the blood serum). The results of each product were compared to those of Alka-Line Coral Calcium™ PRODUCTS COMPARED The products tested were; (1) Oscal, containing biological oyster shell calcium; (2) Natural, containing biological oyster shell calcium; (3) Bone Meal, composed of ground and powdered animal bone; (4) AdvaCal, containing biological oyster shell calcium; (5) Calcet, composed of equal part of calcium carbonate, calcium lactate, and calcium gluconate; (6) Citracal, composed of calcium citrate; (7) Mylanta, containing calcium carbonate; (8) Rolaids, containing calcium carbonate; (9) Maalox, containing calcium carbonate; (10) Tums, containing calcium carbonate; (11) Source Natural Coral Calcium, (12) Coral Complex 2, (13) Coraladvantage, and (14) Ancient Wisdom, (15) Coral Calcium "Supreme", (16) Coral Calcium Daily, (17) Nature's Sunshine Coral Calcium, (18) Coral Sea, (19) Alka-Line Coral Calcium, (20) Alka-Line Coral Calcium Capsules, containing biological, ionic calcium. COMPARISON METHODS AND RESULTS The tests were
conducted using steam distilled water containing crushed powders of each
of the products. The pH results were obtained using standardized digital
pH meters. High pH test numbers equate to a high level of alkalinity. Low
pH results equate to a high level of acidity. The pH scale advances at an
exponential power of 10 for each level. Alka-Line Coral Calcium registered
500 times more alkaline than the next closest product.
PRODUCT CORRELATION There was a high correlation between the pH level of the sample products and the amount of erythrocyte rouleau. There was less correlation between the ORP readings and electrical conductivity between the products. However, the Alka-Line Coral Calcium did register the lowest electrical resistance (ohm) score and only the Coral Calcium products gave readings on the negative side of the ORP meter. However, Alka-Line Coral Calcium was the only product that showed positive biological function results in all four of the test areas. COMMENTS The wide range
of variability displayed by the testing results seems to be linked with
the bioavailability and bioabsorbability of the type of calcium being
ingested. Calcium minerals, in their elemental state, are normally only 8
to 40% biologically available to animals and humans. After reaching the
age of 35 to 40, the availability of minerals to humans drops to 3 to 5%.
Older people may not produce enough digestive acid to put calcium,
magnesium, and potassium into ionic suspension. ADDITIONAL NOTES The pH of the blood must remain between 7.35 and 7.45 for the body to remain healthy. According to Arthur C. Guyton, M.D., author of the "Textbook of Medical Physiology" which was used to train medical students, states, "at a blood pH of 7.2 and below the person will soon become exceptionally sick and soon die." The above information is copyrighted © Copyright 2002 |
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