Connections to Health - The Bone-Building Supplement in Your Fridge

THE ISHTA HOLISTIC HEALTH CENTRE

CONNECTIONS to HEALTH

The Bone-Building Supplement in Your Fridge
And I don't mean milk

Do you know that:-

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body?

There are 147 deficiency diseases associated with too little calcium?

Calcium deficiency is linked directly or indirectly to virtually every cause of death?

Most people in our culture are deficient in calcium?

Not enough calcium in your diet is only one of seven ways of getting a deficiency?

Seven Ways?

Yes, there are seven ways of getting a calcium deficiency.

Not having enough calcium in your diet.

Not producing enough stomach acid to be able to get the calcium from your food into an absorbable form.

Having a diet that is too high in phosphorus, which competes for the transport molecules which also transport calcium.

Having a diet that is too high in acid-ash forming residues so that the calcium you do absorb is having to neutralise all that acid-ash residue.

Not having enough magnesium in your diet. You need magnesium to absorb calcium.

Not having enough vitamin D. You need vitamin D to absorb magnesium.

Not having enough vitamin C. You need vitamin C to absorb vitamin D.

So why not milk?

There is a lot of calcium in milk but it is in a form that we don't absorb very well. Casein, which is the protein in cow's milk, leaves a very acidic ash residue. The body uses calcium to neutralise this acid-ash residue and it needs more calcium to neutralise it than you absorb from the milk. Cow's milk, then, is a net loss of calcium. The best dietary source of calcium is your green leafy vegetables.

So what's in the fridge?

Before I tell you let's look at a study that was done in Holland a few years ago. In 2002 Dutch researchers took a group of post-menopausal women who were experiencing bone density loss. Half they treated with calcium carbonate and the other half were given this mystery ingredient. After a year the women treated conventionally had continued to loose bone density, albeit at a slower rate, while the women on the mystery ingredient showed "significant increases" in their bone density.

The Mystery Revealed.

The mystery ingredient was egg shells. Egg shells have a high level of calcium, and more importantly 26 other minerals and co-factors. In fact the composition of egg shell is very similar to that of bone and teeth.

What, so I have to crunch egg shell?

Don't worry, I'm not suggesting you sit down for breakfast, eat your egg and then crunch your way through the remaining shell. There is an easy, more palatable way to extract all those nutrients. I would suggest using organic free range eggs. Don't use shells that have been cooked and if they have a date stamp on them I would break that bit off.

How to make your own super calcium supplement.

Wash some empty eggshells in warm water and let them dry.

Break them into small pieces and grind them to into a fine powder. Coffee grinders work best but a blender or even a pestle and mortar will do. Store the powder in an airtight jar.

Mix 1/2 teaspoon of powdered eggshell with the juice of half a freshly squeezed organic lemon. The solution will start to bubble and foam.

Leave at room temperature for 6-12 hours and it's ready to take.

Half a teaspoon of eggshell gives you about 400mgs or calcium citrate, which is the recommended amount you should take each day. Calcium citrate is a much more absorbable form of calcium than calcium carbonate.

Please Note
If you do have osteoporosis there are many other things you should be doing to regain your bone density. Don't rely solely on calcium supplementation. For more information about this talk to Sue or Allyn.