Book Report: The Calcium Lie

The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You by Robert Thompson M.D. and Kathleen Barnes

Calcium has always been promoted as essential to health, and it is, however, it is not benign. This book helped to document that there is a critical balance of minerals that are needed for optimal health, and a singular focus on just one can precipitate other problems.

Among the first tidbits discussed is that excess calcium causes deficiencies in sodium and potassium. But it doesn’t stop there…here is an excerpt I saved from the book:

You have excess calcium in your body THAT LEADS TO Calcium seeking more magnesium to try to keep your body in balance THAT LEADS TO A relative magnesium deficiency in proportion to calcium that leads to increased muscle tension, and nerve endings firing erratically and other “electrical” functions of the body malfunctioning; AND In its need for more magnesium, your body has to suppress adrenal function in order to retain more magnesium to compensate for the high calcium, causing a loss of sodium and potassium in your urine; THAT LEADS TO A continual depletion of the sodium and potassium that are stored inside the trillions of cells in your body; THAT LEADS TO A loss of the sodium and chloride you need to produce the stomach acid you need to digest protein; AND This increases the incidences of heartburn and other digestive disorders, and the use of prescription drugs that have further destructive effects and impede digestion; AND Your body gradually loses its ability to digest protein and absorb the essential amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. ALSO the sodium depletion leads to failure of the sodium pump, the mechanism by which our bodies get essential amino acids and glucose into our cells, not including fat cells; FURTHERMORE, Potassium levels decline dramatically—this leads to thyroid hormone resistance and slowed metabolism; SO All cells (except fat cells) become starved for glucose RESULTING IN increased cravings for glucose and for minerals leading to more cravings AND deficiencies of sodium, potassium, and essential amino acids, and more cravings. THE END RESULT IS: Multiple metabolic malfunctions, including, obesity, heart disease, Type 2 hypothyroidism, Type 2 diabetes, anxiety, migraines, depression, hypertension, and the list goes on and on!

Osteoporosis is caused by mineral deficiency. It’s a loss of the bone structure, the superstructure of your body, because your body doesn’t have adequate supplies of all the minerals it needs to build strong bones and, it has too much of one of those minerals: calcium.

When your body tries to hold onto magnesium to protect the muscles and the heart and to compensate for the calcium excess, the adrenal glands are suppressed and sodium and potassium are lost in the urine. These essential mineral levels fall, creating relative calcium excess. As these ratios keep going up and up and up, they create a downstream ripple effect that can become a flash flood. The adrenal glands are suppressed and the body’s cells become resistant to thyroid hormone (Type 2 hypothyroidism) and resistant to adrenal hormones.

NUTRITIONAL DISEASE CASCADE 1. Deficiency develops Body nutrients (especially minerals) and essential amino acids are depleted, and calcium is in excess in all the cells in the body, SO Compensation Occurs: Your body begins to have some subtle metabolic and biochemical changes, but these are not yet detectable in laboratory blood tests. THEN, You develop increasing thyroid hormone resistance, calcium-to-potassium intracellular imbalance, slowed metabolism and adrenal suppression, as your body attempts to hold on to magnesium to balance the high intracellular calcium. Decreased absorption of nutrients in foods occurs and sodium and potassium are continuously lost from your cellular reserves into your urine. You lose the ability to produce stomach acid, leading to poor protein digestion and sodium pump failure, with a resulting inability to get essential amino acids and glucose into your cells, except fat cells, which are stimulated by the increasing insulin levels and remain independent of the sodium pump. Those fat cells continue to absorb more glucose and grow larger and more numerous all the time. As insulin sensitivity decreases or resistance develops, more insulin is needed, more fat is produced, AND 2. Un-compensation occurs You begin to have slightly elevated triglyceride (blood fat) levels, slightly elevated blood sugars, still minor enough to escape much notice, however, your body has begun to make fat more easily. You gain weight quickly due to the underlying mineral deficiencies and imbalances, thyroid hormone resistance and adrenal hormone resistance, further slowing your metabolism with continued increases in insulin resistance. You don’t know how to treat it, so, you eat less, diet and exercise and your metabolism slows even more. You may, for a short time, maintain the weight or the loss, then you get back on the rollercoaster and gain it all back because your body is still craving the nutrients it needs. EVENTUALLY 3. Clinical disease develops in two stages Clinical disease develops, most likely Type 2 diabetes or a neurotransmitter disease like depression and anxiety or migraines. In the early stages, it is: A. Reversible clinical disease: It can be reversed by rebalancing and raising the mineral levels, lowering the calcium excess, and, possibly extra thyroid hormone. After two or more years, this becomes: B. Irreversible clinical disease: The metabolic decline becomes increasingly irreversible, although mineral re-balancing will ease the effects, improve the metabolism, improve the circulation, improve the digestion, decrease the medication requirements, decrease the weight gain and slow the body’s decline.