From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Fri Sep 22 2000 - 20:30:06 MDT
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LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE SEPTEMBER 22 2000
IN THIS ISSUE, SEPTEMBER 22 2000: LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE:
Calcium supplements safe; PROTOCOL: Osteoporosis; FEATURED PRODUCTS OF
THE WEEK: Bone Assure, Calcium Citrate; BOOK: Drug-Induced Nutrient
Depletion Handbook
LIFE EXTENSION UPDATE EXCLUSIVE: Calcium supplements safe
(Life Extension Update Exclusive is a weekly feature of Life Extension
Update ezine that you won't find on our website or in our print magazine.)
Supplement consumers may have been alarmed this week by the news media's
pronouncement that some calcium supplements contain lead. This news was
published in the respected Journal of the American Medical Association
(JAMA), and was taken up by popular news media. Lead poisoning, although
much rarer now than it was several decades ago, causes learning and
behavioural difficulties in children and can lead to kidney and brain
damage, cardiovascular disease, anemia and hypertension in adults. Six
micrograms per day is considered the maximum safe intake limit.
The JAMA article reported the results of the examination of twenty-one
calcium calcium carbonate formulas, including seven derived from natural
sources such as oyster shell. In the natural source calcium, four of the
seven tested were found to have 1-2 mcgs lead per 1500 mg calcium, which
is the dose of calcium recommended for women over thirty-five to prevent
osteoporosis. Of the fourteen non-natural, or refined sources, four had
up to 3 mcg per 1500 mg calcium, still below the safe upper limit, but
nevertheless undesirable.
However, in the same issue of JAMA is an editorial commentary which lays
to rest the fears these findings may have evoked. Robert P Heaney MD
explains that lead is sometimes found with calcium due to calcium's
chemical structure, and notes that manufacturers have have responded to
consumer concerns by using calcium mined from deposits with lower lead
levels, or by chemically processing the calcium to lower the lead content.
This has lead to levels being undetectable in two-thirds of the
supplements tested in the study, whereas a study seven years ago on
seventy brands found lead in most of them. He notes that calcium both
blocks intestinal lead absorption and prevents mobilization of the body's
stored lead into the bloodstream, and that high calcium diets cause
increased urinary excretion of lead. Orally ingested lead would normally
be absorbed with 20-50% efficiency, but when lead is simultaneously
ingested with calcium, absorption is reduced by a factor of ten.
Very small amounts of lead are ingested on a daily basis from a normal
diet. Dr Heaney writes that such healthy foods as raisins, greens,
berries and wine may have up to 200% the amount of lead as a calcium
tablet, and that a lunch of a salad and a glass of wine could have ten
times as much lead. He points out the flaw in the report that there was
no study of subjects taking these calcium supplements, and that blood
levels of lead have decreased in inverse proportion to ingested calcium in
all studies on the subject.
The last words of the editorial: "Calcium sources available today are
generally very safe." In view of the widespread calcium deficiency that
exists, the real danger is avoiding calcium supplements.
(JAMA, vol 284, no 11, September 20, 2000)
PROTOCOL
Osteoporosis
Normal aging causes a decline in bone density that occurs to varying
degrees in otherwise healthy people. This decline does not induce bone
fractures. Osteoporosis, on the other hand, causes a progressive marked
reduction in bone mineral density that often results in pathological
fractures, particularly of the vertebrae of the spine. It occurs more
frequently in women than in men.
Many factors may cause osteoporotic bone loss that is not associated with
aging. These include major surgery, glucocorticoid (anti-inflammatory
steroid) drugs, liver cirrhosis, Crohn's inflammatory disease of the
bowel, cystic fibrosis, and hormone deficiencies. This protocol confines
itself to age-related osteoporosis.
For bone mineral maintenance and replacement, the Life Extension
Foundation recommends that women take between 1000 and 2000 mg of
elemental calcium along with 600 to 1000 mg of elemental magnesium every
day. The addition of between 400 and 1000 IU of vitamin D3 is mandatory to
ensure optimal calcium absorption. The inability to absorb calcium is a
major reason that calcium therapy fails to prevent or slow the progression
of osteoporosis. Vitamin D3 taken with calcium will normally promote
absorption and assimilation of calcium into the bone matrix. Vitamin D3
has also been shown to promote the production of IGF-1 and other growth
factors in osteoporotic patients, which improves osteoblast
(bone-building) function. Other minerals that are important for healthy
bone metabolism include at least 30 mg a day of elemental zinc, 3 mg a day
of elemental manganese, and 2 mg of elemental boron a day.
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FEATURED PRODUCTS OF THE WEEK
Bone Assure
Commercial calcium supplements provide only limited protection against the
demineralization of bone that occurs with aging. The scientific
literature, on the other hand, documents a wide range of minerals that are
vital to maintaining strong, healthy bones. For those who have already
lost bone density, the proper combination of nutrients can help restore
bone mass by rebuilding the organic matrix that holds minerals such as
calcium in place.
Bone Assure is a comprehensive formula that can prevent osteoporosis in
five different ways:
Protects bone mineral mass by providing potent amounts of elemental
magnesium and a highly absorbable form of calcium (bis-glycinate) that has
been shown to assimilate 1.8 times better than calcium citrate.
Maintains the organic bone matrix with the minerals zinc, manganese,
silica and copper that are required for the formation of collagen and
other living connective tissues. Manganese has been shown to specifically
act as an anabolic catalyst in the development and maintenance of the
organic bone matrix.
Facilitates the absorption of calcium into the bloodstream by providing
vitamin D3. Once in the bloodstream vitamin D3 then acts as a hormone to
direct calcium into the bone matrix.
Prevents excessive urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium by providing
the trace mineral boron.
Bone assure lowers toxic homocysteine levels that have been shown to
damage the organic bone matrix by providing small amounts of folic acid,
B6 and TMG.
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Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D
Bone Assure is Life Extension's osteoporosis prevention formula. For
those who want to add calcium to Life Extension Mix, without the extra
nutrients contained in Bone Assure, Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D is a
good choice.
The citrate salt of calcium has been documented to be well absorbed and
utilized by the body. Calcium is important in preventing a number of
diseases in addition to osteoporosis. It blocks the absorption into the
bloodstream of free radical-generating iron. Since many people have too
much iron in their bodies, it makes sense to take calcium with those meals
that contain high iron levels. Reducing iron levels is especially
important for hepatitis C patients who suffer liver cell damage when the
hepatitis virus interacts with iron. Be careful not to take calcium with
food containing fiber, because fiber significantly intereferes with
mineral absorption. It is best to take calcium supplements at night on an
empty stomach. Also, since calcium will block iron absorption, avoid
taking calcium with meals if you are iron deficient.
Each capsule contains 100 mg calcium citrate that provides 220 mg
elemental calcium. There is 100 iu of vitamin D3 added to each capsule to
enhance calcium absorption and utilization.
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BOOK
Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook 1999-2000
by Ross Pelton, RPH, PhD, CCN; James B LaValle, RPh, DHM, NMD, CCN; Ernest
B Hawkins, RPh, MS; Daniel L Krinsky, RPh, MS
A complete and up to date listing of all drugs known to deplete the body
of nutritional compounds. The drug and nutrient information sections are
alphabetically organized and provide extensive cross-referencing to
related information in the various sections of the book.
Drug Information Section:
Identifies nearly 150 generic drugs that can cause a nutrient depletion
Cross-references to more detailed descriptions of the nutrients depleted
and their actions
Nutrient Information section:
Concise descriptions of symptoms of deficiencies
Specific drugs that may cause deficiencies
Sources of repletion
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Please email me if you have questions concerning this ezine or other life
extension topics.
For longer life,
Dayna Dye
ddye@lifeextension.com
Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org
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