Sometimes we hear things so often and for so long that few people question the validity of the assertion. The statement that calcium supplementation is essential to bone health is one of those things.

While the general chorus (mainly in the form of supplement manufacturers) is singing about how good calcium is for your bones, the question arises, since we are consuming so much calcium, shouldn’t we be experiencing major improvements in bone health?

The reality is, the countries with the highest dietary calcium consumption, which include the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavian countries, also have the highest rates of osteoporosis and bone fractures. In contrast, the people in much of Asia and Africa consume little or no milk, few dairy foods, and next to no calcium supplements, yet their fracture rates are 50 to 70 percent lower than ours. Why is that?

In one study, Harvard researchers surveyed diet and hip fractures among 72,337 older women for 18 years. They concluded, “Neither milk nor a high-calcium diet appears to reduce [fracture] risk.”

We’ve been led to believe that we have a “calcium crisis” in the United States. The proposed solution? Drink more milk, and take calcium supplements… But wait!

The “calcium theory”, that we have to eat calcium to produce calcium for our bones, has led to more suffering than just about any theory ever developed by humanity.

If you have taken inorganic calcium supplements and continue to have acute aches and pains in your muscles and joints; if you have ever suffered from an injury that has never completely healed; if you have scar tissue, wrinkles, or stiff joints; if you have experienced a loss of hearing, or you are just getting older, there is a good chance that you have elevated levels of calcification.

Even though every major US health agency endorses daily consumption of milk, dairy, and added calcium, new research has shown that very little dietary calcium actually makes it into the bones. Experts estimate that it is only around 1-2% at best. Most forms of supplemental calcium are not metabolized well in the body. Instead of being utilized as we think they are, in building bones, they form small rocks that get deposited in the soft tissues of the body and lead to a multitude of calcification-related problems. One example: A recent meta-analysis published in the British Medical Journal showed that taking calcium supplements actually increased the risk of heart attacks. 

At the root of the problem is what happens to the supplemental calcium once it is ingested. Nanobacteria (microscopic organisms) within the body use this kind of calcium to form hard shells of calcium phosphate as protection against the body's immune system. This is similar to how a snail uses a shell as a form of armor to protect from predators. This calcium encapsulation provides a great hiding spot for these pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites who want to stay alive, which supports a continual inflammatory process around the area where the nanobacteria have lodged.

If you have ever scrubbed scale (calcium residue) off a sink, bathtub, or toilet surface, then you are aware of how difficult it can be to remove. It is the same in your body. Calcification needs to be dissolved and scrubbed with an appropriate solvent, and unless you know how to do this properly, you will likely never be rid of this potentially life-threatening condition. 

There are actually two kinds of calcium: good and bad. Bad calcium is positively charged; good calcium is negatively charged. The calcium naturally found in plants is perfectly fine but most supplemental calcium comes from rocks or similar substances and is not fit for consumption. 

As it turns out, bone health per se depends not so much on calcium intake, but rather on its metabolism and utilization. While calcium is important, there are many other major nutrients which are required for bone health and which either help dietary calcium to be absorbed and utilized or which can themselves remineralize the bone.

In the late 1950s, the French scientist Professor C.L. Kervran’s work led to the discovery that supplemental silica as well as magnesium could actually remineralize porous or damaged bone with calcium. This discovery indicates that silica and magnesium are biologically transmuted into calcium in the bones; therefore, in order to increase bone density we need to consume the minerals silicon and magnesium—not calcium.

The best forms of silica come from cucumbers, celery, berries, apples, figs, horsetail, nettles, oat straw and alfalfa. The best source of magnesium is raw, organic cacao and high quality dark chocolate, but magnesium comes from many different sources including nuts, seeds, fruits and green vegetables. Sea vegetables such as kelp, dulse and other forms of seaweed and sea algae like chlorella are also great sources of bone-building nutrients.

Further in this regard, along with silica and magnesium, the Vitamins D, and K are serious players in converting the calcium you do consume from food into a form that the body can use and store in bone.

So, should you stop taking calcium supplements? Yes! Stop taking calcium supplements immediately, including and especially coral calcium, oyster shell calcium, and any calcium in any form that was originally mined out of the Earth (e.g. calcium citrate, calcium carbonate).

The calcium theory is bankrupt. It is outdated. Calcium supplements of nearly every sort and description cause calcification. They act like sand in the gears of our tissues. They are deposited in the body as sediment. The use of calcium supplements must be stopped in order for us to decalcify and remineralize our bones. Calcium supplements do not do what they are stated to do: increase bone density and strength. On top of that, they cause aging and prematurely drag us into an early, permanent retirement six feet under the ground.

There are better ways to build bone. Consume good calcium from green-leafy vegetables, oranges, sunflower seeds, the pith of citrus fruits, carob, mesquite, wheatgrass, etc. These food sources are essential for detoxification, muscle relaxation, lowering tension, and creating alkalinity.