Debunking Coral Calcium

Coral calcium supplements have been promoted online and in tv infomercials for a number of years, at least stretching back to 2002. They gained quite a following due to the persuasive nature of the claims. Coral calcium supplements were claimed to cure cancer, as well as crohns and around 200 other diseases. There were claims the calcium in coral supplements was absorbed 100%, and even that it turned ionic in the body.

Cloaking the claims of coral calcium in pseudo-science, and appealing to the desire of people for answerers to illnesses we really don't have complete answers for, led to these expensive calcium products gaining a following that seems to persist to this day. This despite the fact that in 2003 the US Federal Trade Commission disallowed coral calcium manufacturers and sellers from making the unsubstantiated and misleading claims that included those already mentioned.

Unfortunately, there are some websites that make it seem like they are being impartial in getting to the truth of coral calcium, when in reality they present the same pseudo-science in order to sell or recommend coral calcium products. These websites may in fact be ranking quite well in the search engines too, making it seem like they are authoritative when they are actually misleading.

What Is Coral Calcium?

Part of the marketing spiel around coral calcium centers on the fact that this type of calcium is made from coral, which supposedly gives it some miraculous properties absent in other calcium supplements. The truth is a little more mundane...

Coral calcium is not actually made from live coral, as this is illegal. Live coral is protected, and even if it were not, it would be an environmental disaster to mine it for calcium and thereby upset the eco balance of that environment. Instead, coral calcium is made from limestone that was made by living coral. The fact that it was made by living coral does not make it any different chemically to limestone that was not made by living coral. Both are still calcium carbonate. And calcium carbonate is a common type of calcium supplement that is actually very cheap to make, though if you were buying a coral calcium supplement, you wouldn't know this. The inflation in price that results from the reference to coral prompted the Berkeley Wellness newsletter to use the headline "How to Sell a 5¢ Supplement for $1".

We begin to get some interesting pseudo-science when coral calcium supporters discuss the "unique" origins of their product. For example, the line of thought goes that because this calcium carbonate was made by coral, or "pre-digested" by it, it becomes organic, instead of inorganic like regular calcium carbonate supplements. We are told that humans cannot digest regular calcium carbonate, that it is akin to trying to digest "little rocks". This is false science on a number of accounts.

1. Irrespective of how it is made, coral calcium is still an inorganic chemical compound
2. With the exception of calcium citrate, most calcium supplements should be taken with food. They should also be taken in smaller amounts, say around 500mg at time. These factors influence the ability of calcium to be absorbed - and calcium carbonate can be absorbed by the body. About 35% is, though there are factors such as the above that influence this.

More coral calcium pseudo-science is well debunked at these sites: