Recently, newspapers are firing off articles about calcium appearing to be more foe than friend. How can that be?

A recent large Swedish study concluded that calcium intake in pill form contributed to an increase in cardiovascular disease and had only a nominal effect on bone health. The study was missing some vital key components essential to giving an honest assessment. What type of calcium did they take? Did they have the other co-factors necessary for calcium utilization? What underlying mechanisms may have been amiss, such as hormonal imbalance, kidney deficiencies, digestive capacity, etc.?

Not all calcium is the same. The type of calcium probably used in the study was calcium carbonate. This is by far the most used form of calcium in pill form because it's cheap. Calcium carbonate is ground up shell and rock, barely assimilable and only by a healthy digestive system. You need sufficient hydrochloric acid in the stomach to break it down, and not be inhibited by anti-acid medications. Calcium lactate is the easiest form to assimilate. What counts in calcium is that it's usable.

The building blocks for healthy bones, joints, teeth and some metabolic processes include not just calcium, but essential fats, amino acids/proteins, enzymes, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iodine, inositol and several vitamins. The minerals provide the hardening factors, but without these other materials, minerals alone cannot reverse calcium depletion in the body.

Other factors not included in the study are known calcium-inhibiting factors. Many medications, alcohol, coffee/caffeine, smoking, phytic and oxalic acids, excess cortisol, dietary fiber, sodium chloride (table salt) and sugar contribute to loss of calcium from the blood or tissues.

Hormones play key roles in calcium metabolism. Imbalance in calcitonin insulin, estrogen, parathyroid hormone, and a few others, results in improper blood-tissue ratios of calcium.

Physical activity, sun and other lifestyle factors also play a role in how calcium is utilized. Any issues with several organs and systems can affect healthy calcium levels as well.

Calcium is needed not only for healthy bones and teeth. It is also needed for strengthening and repair of muscle and connective tissue, it is essential for viral or bacterial infection, allergies, immune response, healthy sleep, hormonal signaling, it acts as a coenzyme for clotting factors, stabilizes blood pressure, needed for normal brain function, cell communication, insulin response, muscle contraction, assists the movement of sperm into an egg to fertilize the egg, supports heart contraction, needed for soft tissue repair, emotional health and it is a physiological relaxer.

The best sources of calcium are green leafy vegetables. But since most people don't eat the 1-2 cups needed per day, pills are necessary. The Bottom Line: if you don't get enough calcium from foods, you have to get it from pills. Calcium lactate is the best, carbonate is the worst. Get your minerals from plants, include fats when you eat minerals, get ample exercise, eliminate the inhibitors such as sugar, coffee and acid-forming foods, and get your enzymes and hormonal balance up to par. Doing this makes calcium our friend, not foe.

Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with more than 32 years of experience. Carling is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health-care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d'Alene clinic. Visit Carling's website at www.vitalhealthandfitness.com to learn more about Carling, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. Carling can be reached at (208) 765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.