Coral Calcium

View labels

View wholesale pricing.

SEE WHY WE USE ABOVE-SEA CORAL CALCIUM:
Fossilized, above-sea coral is pure and hence has a higher calcium content (37% compared to 20 - 24% for most marine products). Thousands of years ago this coral was a thriving coral reef. Geologically, fossilized coral was pushed up above sea level, free from the ocean pollution of the industrial era. Only the pristine white coral heads are harvested. This harvesting process involves removal of the protective layer of soil that accumulated over the eons, collecting the ancient coral and trucking it away for grinding. You will note that marine coral promoters are unwilling to post a certificate of analysis on their sites as we do.

CORAL CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTS COMPARISON

There is a confusing array of Coral Calcium Products on the market with widely ranging prices. Naturally every company tries to position their brand as the premium form of Coral. Claims include "most absorbable Coral on the market" "clinical grade Coral" "Fossilized Coral", "Marine Coral", "Sango Coral", "Ionized Coral", "Robert Barefoot's formula" and so on. Some argue over who was first to bring it to America and who has the "exclusive rights".

Let's debunk some Coral myths and clarify terms:

Okinawan Coral
All coral calcium products on the market are from the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa.

Sango Coral
What about Sango - some say Sango is the best. Actually Sango is simply a local Okinawan reference to Coral in general - so all Okinawan Coral is Sango.

Ionized Coral
All Okinawan Coral is ionized too - that just means it takes on a charge (a positive one to be specific) so don't be fooled by companies claiming to have a superior product because it is "Ionized" Coral Calcium. The important thing is that this ionization makes it far more useable for humans compared to regular calcium supplements.

Clinical Grade
Some claim to have "clinical grade" but no explanation is offered as to how this is different from any other. Coral is a whole food source of calcium and minerals and there is no standard grading system including "clinical grade". Something that does matter more is particle size. It comes in a range of sizes from 2 microns (like flour) up to 44 microns. The smaller, the better for absorption. Physician Formulated The Coral formulas on the market are very simple formulations based on Dr Carl Reich's work from 1950 through 1992 where he combined Calcium and Vitamin D to work miracles in patients. A physician's involvement is arguably overkill.

Robert Barefoot Formula
Several companies, each with a different formula, either have Bob Barefoot's name on their formula or advertise that they represent him in one way or another. Robert Barefoot has licensed his name to a company which has developed several brands and markets through several distributors. Confusing matters further, Mr. Barefoot has represented most of the Coral companies at one time or another as his mission is to help America heal itself and he tends to hop from company to company. If you see his name on a bottle of coral, one thing is certain - Bob Barefoot is not producing it as he has parted company with the licensor of his name. Not that it really matters - plain ground up coral in powder form works very well on it's own. Any formula containing some Vitamin D and maybe a few other goodies is a bonus with or without Barefoot's name on it.

Exclusive Rights
If any company owned the exclusive rights to Coral calcium there would not be so many competing companies creating such confusion now would there? Coral Calcium was first introduced to America about 6 years ago through a Multi-level Marketing company selling it in tea bag form. Later the capsules became more popular as the entire mineral content could be swallowed. Over time about 7 or 8 other MLM companies started marketing Coral products and one or two regular distribution companies have recently joined in.

Fossilized Coral versus Marine (Ocean) Coral
There are two sources of Okinawan Coral. Fossilized Coral which is mined above sea level and Marine Coral which is vacuumed from the ocean bottom near the Coral reefs. Which is best, Fossilized or Marine Coral?

Laboratory analysis of the two kinds shows each variety has similar quantities of each of the minerals. Fossilized tends to have a little higher percentage of Calcium - about 30 to 38% while the Marine variety has about 24% calcium. So when you read about a company having 500 mg of Coral calcium per capsule, you know that roughly 1/3 of that is pure calcium - most of the better companies will point out the exact percentage. All of it comes from Okinawan Coral and none has toxic levels of heavy metals.

The fossilized coral suppliers claim that theirs is in aragonite form which is more soluble than the marine variety which is heat treated and becomes a calcite form of crystal. This has been verified in a Japanese laboratory. The Marine coral suppliers say theirs is advantageous due to a natural 2:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. Our tests indicate that magnesium has likely been added to accomplish this ratio - which is fine. Some of the fossilized brands have magnesium added too, but the fossilized companies are up-front about it.

Whenever a company promotes something as "naturally occurring" and it has been added, it makes us wonder where else the truth is being stretched on their product. A little foray to Okinawa unearthed another matter of concern regarding "Marine" coral - that is the purity of a product that involves vacuuming the ocean floor. We obtained raw marine coral product samples which have a fairly high sand content. This is not all bad as sand has some minerals in it, but these impurities are likely the reason Marine Coral has a lower calcium content than Fossilized coral.

We know that Mr Barefoot is currently promoting "Marine Coral", but one must remember his history of representing a number of coral companies over the years and each brand he represents at the time has "the best form". When he represented Fossilized Coral it was the best - currently he is representing Marine Coral, but we hear rumours that he may switch again soon to promoting fossilized coral. It doesn't really matter. We recommend that you choose your coral based on it's merits, not on who is promoting it.

Every company has a list of amazing success stories with their brand of Coral which we have no reason to doubt given the well documented longevity of the Okinawan people who live on a giant fossilized coral reef and ingest Coral minerals daily from their water! Although we would take "Marine" Coral if it were the only type available, we favor fossilized coral for reasons noted above. Some people also favor the fossilized form on ethical grounds - because the Marine vacuuming process can be damaging to the Coral environment.

Magnesium Content
There are several schools of thought on how much Magnesium should be in calcium supplements. An article in the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) indicated there should be absolutely no magnesium in calcium supplements. Other experts claim a 2:1 ratio of Calcium to Magnesium is ideal. The Okinawan race, noted for their longevity due to the minerals they ingest from the giant fossilized mineral reef they live on do not add magnesium at all. What we know for sure is the medical community is undecided - and that all pure coral products works extremely well with or without a 2:1 ratio.

Coral Microbes
Although super qualities have been attributed to these microbes, we do not believe they exist in commercially available coral, if at all. Marine coral is heat treated and Fossilized coral is ozonated. Both processes will kill any living microbe. The coral works, but not because of microbes.

Conclusions
Lets get one thing clear, our research shows that any real pure Coral Calcium, is pretty much Coral Calcium in spite of the attempts of each company to position theirs as unique.The only thing that is quite different is the price companies are retailing the products for.