Mega drug companies have kept these facts a secret from the public. Their laboratory made chemicals and crushed rocks have a minimal health benefit at best, and can cause real harm.
What are Isolated Chemical Vitamins and Minerals?
Knowing that our current food supply does not supply all the nutrients necessary to survive, in an attempt to make our life easier, science has found a way to compensate  for the loss. Nutrients are removed from their natural environment and presented as a synthesized single chemical. As an example, ascorbic acid is never isolated in nature, but occurs in food molecularly bonded to other food elements including bioflavonoids, proteins, carbohydrates and lipids and known as vitamin C.
The body recognizes nutrients in a food form and can efficiently utilize nutrients from whole food. The body has difficulty in recognizing and processing the chemically isolated forms and so just rejects it. To give you an example, if you took the wheels, engine and seats out of your car you would not get very far. This is basically what you are doing by removing the nutrient from the complex whole food. The absorption factor for most chemical isolates is in the area of 5% and very rarely exceeds 20%. This may be the reason that many scientists and doctors have suggested that taking large amounts of supplements is only useful for producing expensive urine.
Taking standard USP forms of isolated nutrients, vitamins and supplements is equivalent to sending your mail out without addressing the envelope. The nutrients never get to where they needed to go.
Chemical Differences
The basic difference between minerals found in foods and those found in processed rocks is chemical. Minerals are normally found in food and in the body attached with some peptide [8,9]. When humans eat plants (or animals) they are consuming minerals in those forms. With the exception of sodium chloride (common table salt), humans do not normally consume minerals in the chemical forms known as mineral salts (when they do, it is considered to be a disorder called 'geophagia' or 'pica' [10,11]). Even though they are aware of this, many health professionals advocate supplementing with processed soil components.
It is a fact that mineral salts are often called "natural", but they are not food minerals. Mineral salts are molecular compounds that look like rocks [12]. Mineral salts are a compound containing a mineral element (which is the mineral normally listed on a supplement label) and some other substance it is chemically bound to. Mineral salts are either rocks (e.g. calcium carbonate exists as the rock commonly known as limestone) or they are rocks which are chemically-altered. Mineral salts are natural food for plants (which can chemically change and detoxify them [13]), they are not a natural food for humans.
A chemical analogy might be appropriate here to better explain the difference. If there is hydrogen present with oxygen, the hydrogen will burn if heated to its kindling point. However, when hydrogen binds with oxygen and becomes the chemical compound known as water, it will not burn, no matter what the temperature. Even though water contains hydrogen, hydrogen bound in water does not react the same way as unbound hydrogen. Minerals bound in mineral salts simply are not treated the same way in the body as are minerals found in food.
Most Minerals in Supplements are Industrial Chemicals
The following list will describe what many mineral salts/chelates used in supplements actually are and what they are used for when not in supplements:
Boric acid is the rock known as sassolite. Used in weatherproofing wood, fireproofing fabrics, and as an insecticide [14].
Calcium ascorbate is calcium carbonate processed with ascorbic acid and acetone. It is a manufactured product used as a 'non-food' supplement [14].
Calcium carbonate is the rock known as limestone or chalk. Used in the manufacture of paint, rubber, plastics, ceramics, putty, polishes, insecticides, & inks. Used as a filler for adhesives, matches, pencils, crayons, linoleum, insulating compounds, & welding rods [14].
Calcium chloride is calcium carbonate and chlorine and is the by product of the Solvay ammonia-soda process. It is used for antifreeze, refrigeration, & fire extinguisher fluids. Also used to preserve wood & stone. Other uses include cement, coagulant in rubber manufacturing, dust control of unpaved roads, freezeproofing coal, & increasing traction in tires [14].
Calcium citrate is calcium carbonate processed with lactic and citric acids. It is used to alter the baking properties of flour [14].
Calcium gluconate is calcium carbonate processed with gluconic acid (which is used in cleaning compounds). It is used in sewage purification and to prevent coffee powders from caking [14].
Calcium glycerophosphate is calcium carbonate processed with dl-alpha-glycerophosphates. It is used in dentrifices, baking powder, & as a food stabilizer [14].
Calcium hydroxyapatite is crushed bone and bone marrow. It is used as a fertilizer [15].
Calcium iodide is calcium carbonate processed with iodine. It is an expectorant [14].
Calcium lactate is calcium carbonate processed with lactic acid. It is used as a dentrifice and as a preservative [14].
Calcium oxide is basically burnt calcium carbonate. It is used in bricks, plaster, mortar, stucco, and other building materials. It is also used in insecticides & fungicides [14].
Calcium phosphate, tribasic is the rock known as oxydapatit or bone ash. It is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, milk-glass, polishing powders, porcelain, pottery, and enamels [14].
Chromium chloride is a preparation of hexahydrates. It is used as a corrosion inhibitor and waterproofing agent [14].
Chromium picolinate is chromium III processed with picolinic acid. Picolinic acid is used in herbicides [16].
Copper aspartate is made "from the reaction between cupric carbonate and aspartic acid (from chemical synthesis)" [17]. It is a manufactured product used as a 'non-food' supplement [17].
Copper (cupric) carbonate is the rock known as malachite. It is used as a paint and varnish pigment, plus as a seed fungicide [14].
Copper gluconate is copper carbonate processed with gluconic acid. It is used as a deodorant [18].
Copper sulfate is copper combined with sulfuric acid. It is used as a drain cleaner and to induce vomiting; it is considered as hazardous heavy metal by the City of Lubbock that "can contaminate our water supply" [19].
Dicalcium phosphate is the rock known as monetite, but can be made from calcium chloride and sodium phosphate. It is used as a 'non-food' supplement [17].
Ferric pyrophosphate is an iron rock processed with pyrophosphoric acid. It is used in fireproofing and in pigments [14].
Ferrous lactate is a preparation from isotonic solutions. It is used as a 'non-food' supplement [14].
Ferrous sulfate is the rock known as melanterite. It is used as a fertilizer, wood preservative, weed-killer, and pesticide [14].
Magnesium carbonate is the rock known as magnesite. It is used as an antacid, laxative, and cathartic [14].
Magnesium chloride is magnesium ammonium chloride processed with hydrochloric acid. It fireproofs wood, carbonizes wool, and as a glue additive and cement ingredient [14].
Magnesium citrate is magnesium carbonate processed with acids. It is used as a cathartic [14].
Magnesium oxide is normally burnt magnesium carbonate. It is used as an antacid and laxative [14].
Manganese carbonate is the rock known as rhodochrosite. It is used as a whitener and to dry varnish [14].
Manganese gluconate is manganese carbonate or dioxide processed with gluconic acid. It is a manufactured item used as a 'non-food' supplement [14].
Manganese sulfate is made "from the reaction between manganese oxide and sulfuric acid" [17]. Used in dyeing and varnish production [14].
Molybdenum ascorbate is molybdenite processed with ascorbic acid and acetone. It is a manufactured item used as a 'non-food' supplement [20].
Molybdenum disulfide is the rock known as molybdenite. It is used as a lubricant additive and hydrogenation catalyst [14].
Potassium chloride is a crystalline substance consisting of potassium and chlorine. It is used in photography [14].
Potassium iodide is made from HI and KHCO3 by melting in dry hydrogen and undergoing electrolysis. It is used to make photographic emulsions and as an expectorant [14].
Potassium sulfate appears to be prepared from the elements in liquid ammonia. It is used as a fertilizer and to make glass [14].
Selenium oxide is made by burning selenium in oxygen or by oxidizing selenium with nitric acid. It is used as a reagent for alkaloids or as an oxidizing agent [14].
Selenomethionine is a selenium analog of methionine. It is used as a radioactive imaging agent [14].
Silicon dioxide is the rock known as agate. It is used to manufacture glass, abrasives, ceramics, enamels, and as a defoaming agent [14].
Vanadyl sulfate is a blue crystal powder known as vanadium oxysulfate. It is used as a dihydrate in dyeing and printing textiles, to make glass, and to add blue and green glazes to pottery [14].
Zinc acetate is made from zinc nitrate and acetic anhydride. It is used to induce vomiting [14].
Zinc carbonate is the rock known as smithsonite or zincspar. It is used to manufacture rubber [14].
Zinc chloride is a combination of zinc and chlorine. It is used as an embalming material [14].
Zinc citrate is smithsonite processed with citric acid. It is used in the manufacture of some toothpaste [14].
Zinc gluconate is a zinc rock processed with gluconic acid. Gluconic acid is used in many cleaning compounds [14].
Zinc lactate is smithsonite processed with lactic acid. Lactic acid lactate is used as a solvent [14].
Zinc orotate is a zinc rock processed with orotic acid. Orotic acid is a uricosuric (promotes uric acid excretion) [14].
Zinc oxide is the rock known as zincite. It is used as a pigment for white paint and as part of quick-drying cement [14].
Zinc phosphate is the rock known as hopeite. It is used in dental cements [14].
Zinc picolinate is a zinc rock processed with picolinic acid. Picolinic acid is used in herbicides [16].
Zinc sulfate can be a rock processed with sulfuric acid. It is used as a corrosive in calico-printing and to preserve wood [14].
'Chelated' Minerals
Chelated minerals, as a rule, are generally crushed industrial rocks processed with one or more acids. Probably the biggest difference in minerals now compared to 45 years ago is that some companies have decided to industrially produce human-made versions of minerals attached to peptides. Essentially they take a rock or industrial mineral salt, chemically alter it, and attempt to attach it to the mineral. This results in a mineral that is different from normal mineral salts, but does not turn the substance into a food. Examples of this include the various mineral ascorbates, picolinates, aspartates, glycinates, and chelates. It needs to be understood that since there is not a universally accepted definition of the term 'chelate', when this term is used on a label, one generally does not know if the chelate is amino-acid based or some type of industrial acid.
It should be noted, for example, that the addition of "citric acid and picolinic acid do not appear to enhance zinc absorption" [21]. Please also understand that chromium picolinate is a human-made substance, created by Gary Evans [22]--it is not a natural food. Picolinic acid is used in herbicides [16]; furthermore "picolinic acid is an excretory or waste product. It is not metabolized by, or useful to the body" [23].
Jay Patricks claims to have originally developed procedures to manufacture all seven of the mineral ascorbates [23]; thus it would seem highly inappropriate to call supplements with ascorbate attached minerals 'food'.
Actually, it does not appear that any of the minerals marketed as 'chelated' are food concentrates (though there are foods which contain naturally chelated minerals, but these are normally marketed as food minerals). Even though there may be some theoretical advantages of industrially-produced mineral 'chelates' as compared to inorganic mineral salts, these chelates are not natural food.
It is well known among nutrition researchers that most essential minerals are not well absorbed (some are less than 1%) [24]. "Bioavailability of orally administered vitamins, minerals, and trace elements is subject to a complex set of influences...In nutrition science the term 'bioavailability' encompasses the sum of impacts that may reduce or foster the metabolic utilization of a nutrient" [25]. University studies (which may or may not conform to peer-review standards) show that the bioavailability of mineral containing foods is greater than that of isolated inorganic mineral salts or mineral chelates [e.g. 26-37]. These studies have concluded that natural food minerals may be better absorbed, utilized, and/or retained than mineral salts:
Furthermore it needs to be understood that minerals used in most supplements do not contain protein chaperones or other food factors needed for absorption into the cell. In 1996, the Nobel prize for medicine was awarded for discovering that minerals need protein chaperones to be absorbed into cellular receptors. Here is how one laboratory describes what happens when mineral salts without protein chaperones are consumed, "It is after digestion when other mineral forms {mineral salts} have their mineral cleaved from their carriers. In this situation, these minerals become charged ions, and their absorbability becomes in jeopardy. These charged free minerals are known to block the absorption of one another, or to combine with other dietary factors to form compounds that are unabsorbable" [38]. A question to consider is, should people on a daily basis consume a dozen or more chemicals which are not naturally included in any human food? If not, should multi-mineral products for health maintenance be consumed which contain industrial mineral salts/chelates or should only those which contain mineral dense foods?
Foods used in supplements that commonly provide significant quantities of essential minerals include dulse, horsetail herb, kelp, nutritional yeast , rice bran, and water thyme. These types of foods have been shown to contain not only minerals in natural food forms, but also important protein chaperones such as ATX1 and ceruplasmin [39,40]. So in addition to being chemically different, industrial mineral salts do not contain the protein chaperones or other food factors needed for proper mineral absorption. Furthermore, some foods also contain factors which reduce the probability of certain minerals to be toxic to the body [41-43]--industrial mineral salts and chelates are simply not that complete.
Quantitative Differences
In addition to not containing residue chemicals that the body must discard, there are quantitative differences in food vs. non-food minerals. The following chart lists some of them by mineral:
Food Mineral Compared to Mineral Salt/Chelate
Calcium Up to 8.79 times more bioavailable [28].
Chromium Up to 25 times more bioavailable [44].
Copper 1.85 time more retained in the liver [34].
Germanium 5.30 times more retained in the liver [26].
Iron 1.77 times more absorbed into blood [34].
Magnesium Up to 2.20 times more bioavailable [35].
Manganese 1.63 times more retained in the liver [34].
Molybdenum 16.49 times more absorbed into blood [34].
Selenium Up to 17.60 time the antioxidant effect [37].
Zinc 6.46 times more absorbed into blood [34].
There are also other benefits. In addition to having higher antioxidant ability, one study found that food selenium is 123 times more effective in reducing nonenzyamtic protein glycation (a potential contributor to Alzheimer's) than a selenium mineral salt [31]. A seven week study found that food calcium (from nutritional yeast) was able to reduce diastolic blood pressure by 8.2%, whereas the mineral salt calcium used resulted in no significant change [28]. Food chromium has been shown to be 2.80 times more effective in reducing blood glucose levels than inorganic chromium [29,30]. Foods, almost by definition, are not toxic, and as mentioned earlier, can have protective factors to prevent certain potential mineral toxicities [41-43].
Is bigger better?
In spite of all this research, some have felt that if they take, for example, twice as much of an industrial rock (called a mineral salt) than a food mineral, then it will be just as effective in the body. That is not true. An analogy might be appropriate here. Let's say two people want to build a computer. One has 100% of all the parts (like in food nutrients) and the other has 94% of all the parts (lacking protein chaperones and other food factors), but the parts are a lot bigger (like in USP rocks, because they contain non-essential mineral attachments), which computer will work correctly? The one with all the parts! Most minerals are cheap (or not so cheap) industrial imitations of food minerals--they are not food!
Industrially processed rocks can have some positive nutritional effects (as well as unnatural residues), yet they are not food for humans. Unlike humans, plants have roots or hyphae which aid in the absorption of minerals. Plants actually have the ability to decrease the toxicity of compounds by changing their biochemical forms [13]. Plants are intended to ingest rocks, humans are not [1]. Real foods, and not industrial imitations, are the preferred source of minerals by those who believe in the principles of basic, traditional naturopathy.
Is Dairy a Good Source of Calcium?
Calcium from milk and milk products is absorbed at a higher percentage rate than calcium from supplements because of the co-factors found in the milk. However, the high animal protein content, fat, pesticides, and bovine growth hormones in the milk make it less than desirable to consume.
Who Gets Bone Disease?
Why do nations with the highest rates of bone disease also have the highest milk consumption rates? The highest rates of osteoporosis are to be found in Denmark, Holland, Norway, and Sweden.
Evidences is so prevalent worldwide. In Africa, there are the Masai tribesmen who consume large amounts of calcium from the milk of their cattle. They have bone diseases. Then in rural African agricultural communities, the agrigarians maintain good bones on a much lower intake, less than 400 milligrams per day. They have no bone disease. Their calcium is from highly bioavailable sources and their diets do not contain excessive phosphorus or protein.
We are told to consume 1000 milligrams per day of calcium. Inuit Eskimos consume 3500 milligrams of calcium each day, and by age 40 are bone crippled.
THE KEY TO OSTEOPOROSIS: It's not how much calcium you eat. It's how much calcium you prevent from leaving your bones.
Why Does Calcium Leave Bones?
There are 28 amino acids in nature. The human body can manufacture 19 of them. The other nine are called "essential." We must get them from the foods we eat. One of those "essential" aminos is methionine, which is C-5, H-11, NO, S
One needs methionine for many human metabolic functions including digestion, detoxification of heavy metals, and muscle metabolism. However, an excess of methionine can be toxic.
Methionine is a good source for sulfur. But eating foods containing too much methionine, the blood will become acidic. The sulfur converts to sulfates and weak forms of sulphuric acid. The body leeches calcium from the bones to neutralize the acid,
According to Dr. Sellmeyer, "Sulphur-containing amino acids in protein-containing foods are metabolized to sulfuric acid. Animal foods provide predominantly acid precursors. Acidosis stimulates osteoclastic activity and inhibits osteoblast activity."
"Dietary protein increases production of acid in the blood which can be neutralized by calcium mobilized from the skeleton." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1995; 61 (4)
Animal proteins contain more methionine than plant proteins. Let's compare cow's milk to soymilk:
Methionine in 100 grams of soymilk: .040 grams
Methionine in 100 grams of whole milk: .083 grams
Methionine in 100 grams of skim milk: .099 grams
Now, let's compare 100 gram portions of tofu to meat: (All of the meat products are lean and without skin)
Silken soft tofu: .074 grams
Hamburger: .282 grams
Hard boiled egg: .392 grams
Roast ham: .535 grams
Baked codfish: .679 grams
Swiss cheese .784 grams
Roast chicken: .801 grams
In 1988, N.A. Breslau and colleagues identified the relationship between protein-rich diets and calcium metabolism, noting that protein caused calcium loss. His work was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology (1988;66:140-6).
A 1994 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Remer T, Am J Clin Nutr 1994;59:1356-61) found that animal proteins cause calcium to be leached from the bones and excreted in the urine.
"Osteoporosis is caused by a number of things, one of the most important being too much dietary protein." Science 1986;233(4763)
"Even when eating 1,400 mg of calcium daily, one can lose up to 4% of his or her bone mass each year while consuming a high-protein diet." American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1979;32(4)
"Increasing one's protein intake by 100% may cause calcium loss to double." Journal of Nutrition, 1981; 111 (3)
"Consumption of dairy products, particularly at age 20 years, were associated with an increased risk of hip fractures... metabolism of dietary protein causes increased urinary excretion of calcium." American Journal of Epidemiology 1994;139
Animal Protein Increases Bone Loss
A study published in the January, 2001 edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined the diets of 1,035 women, particularly focusing on the protein intake from animal and vegetable products. Deborah Sellmeyer, M.D., found: In her study, women with a high animal-to-vegetable protein ratio experienced an increased rate of femoral neck bone loss. A high animal-to-vegetable protein ratio was also associated with an increased risk of hip fracture.
Meat Eaters Have More Hip Fractures
Sellmeyer's remarkable publication reveals:
"Women with high animal-to-vegetable protein rations were heavier and had higher intake of total protein. These women had a significantly increased rate of bone loss than those who ate just vegetable protein. Women consuming higher rates of animal protein had higher rates of bone loss and hip fracture by a factor of four times."
Milk has been called "liquid meat." The average American eats five ounces of animal protein each day in the form of red meat and chicken. At the same time, the average American consumes nearly six times that amount (29.2 ounces) per day of milk and dairy products.
Ironicly, the Dairy Industry Promotes the Cause of Bone Disease as the Cure.
Deborah Sellmeyer's brilliant work is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Her original column:
Human breast milk is Mother Nature's PERFECT FORMULA for baby humans. Even dairy industry scientists would not be foolish enough to debate this UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED FACT. In her wisdom, Mother Nature included 33 milligrams of calcium in every 100 grams, or 3 1/2-ounce portion of human breast milk.
Adults do not drink human breast milk. At the end of this column is a list of calcium values in the foods we eat. Each food is compared to human breast milk as the standard. You might be surprised to learn how many foods naturally contain an abundance of calcium. One must wonder why Asians traditionally did not get bone-crippling osteoporosis...that is, until they adopted the "American Diet," a diet of milk and dairy products.
The dairy industry owns the psychological exclusive rights to calcium in foods found in super markets. Few food manufacturers would dare to compete with the dairy message which infers that no other foods contain the calcium contained in milk, and without milk and dairy products you're certain to one day end up with bone-crippling osteoporosis. Tropicana Orange Juice has been marketing a Fruit-Cal orange juice which, according to the Tropicana company, contains a more absorbable type of calcium than other calcium supplements. Each cup of Tropicana's pure premium calcium contains 350 milligrams of calcium as opposed to only 302 in one cup of milk and 172 in one ounce of American cheese. Minute Maid also has a Calcium-Orange Juice product and claims that it contains fifteen times the amount of calcium as contained in an equivalent sample of regular orange juice. Gerber's Baby cereal sells a box of single grain barley upon which they write, "An excellent source of iron and a good source of calcium." The side panel of their box reveals that their cereal contains barley flour and tri and di calcium phosphate. Other than orange juice and baby food, no visible claim to calcium is made by any food manufacturer. The reason, of course, is that milk holds the monopoly. They hold title to and make claim to America's calcium perception. Few would dare challenge that claim.
The Dairy Industry and milk processors invest hundreds of millions of dollars each year to guarantee that Americans will continue to drink milk and eat dairy products, investing their money to continually let Americans know that milk tastes good and the intake of milk and dairy products must be continued to insure good health. Milk mustaches are stylish. Drink milk and you're beautiful! Gorgeous models, actors, actresses, sports heroes, even President Clinton and Bob Dole have posed for milk advertisements. All have asserted by the milky white goo artificially applied to their upper lip that drinking milk is healthful and wholesome. Who would argue with such an overwhelming endorsement? Billboards spanning America ask the question, "Got milk?" Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles broke Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive major league baseball games played. Ripken, holding a baseball bat, smiles from inside the front cover of a "GOT MILK" brochure proclaiming, "With all the skim milk I drink, my name might as well be Calcium Ripken, Jr."
Common knowledge of osteoporosis is based upon false assumptions. American women have been drinking an average of two pounds of milk or eating the equivalent milk in dairy products per day for their entire lives. Doctors recommend calcium intake for increasing and maintaining bone strength and bone density which they call bone mass. According to this regimen recommended by doctors and milk industry executives, women's bone mass would approach that of pre-historic dinosaurs. This line of reasoning should be equally extinct. Twenty-five million American women have osteoporosis. Drinking milk does not prevent osteoporosis. Milk contains calcium. Bones contain calcium too. When we are advised to add calcium to our diets we tend to drink milk or eat dairy foods.
In order to absorb calcium, the body needs comparable amounts of another mineral element, magnesium. Milk and dairy products contain only small amounts of magnesium. Without the presence of magnesium, the body only absorbs 25 percent of the available dairy calcium content. The remainder of the calcium spells trouble. Without magnesium, excess calcium is utilized by the body in injurious ways. The body uses calcium to build the mortar on arterial walls which becomes atherosclerotic plaques. Excess calcium is converted by the kidneys into painful stones which grow in size like pearls in oysters, blocking our urinary tracts. Excess calcium contributes to arthritis; painful calcium buildup often is manifested as gout. The USDA has formulated a chart of recommended daily intakes of vitamins and minerals. The term that FDA uses is Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). The RDA for calcium is 1500 mg. The RDA for magnesium is 750 mg.
Society stresses the importance of calcium, but rarely magnesium. Yet, magnesium is vital to enzymatic activity. In addition to insuring proper absorption of calcium, magnesium is critical to proper neural and muscular function and to maintaining proper pH balance in the body. Magnesium, along with vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), helps to dissolve calcium phosphate stones which often accumulate from excesses of dairy intake. Good sources of magnesium include beans, green leafy vegetables like kale and collards, whole grains and orange juice. Non-dairy sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables, almonds, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, oats, beans, parsley, sesame seeds and tofu.
Osteoporosis is NOT a problem that should be associated with lack of calcium intake. Osteoporosis results from calcium loss. The massive amounts of protein in milk result in a 50 percent loss of calcium in the urine. In other words, by doubling your protein intake there will be a loss of 1-1.5 percent in skeletal mass per year in postmenopausal women. The calcium contained in leafy green vegetables is more easily absorbed than the calcium in milk, and plant proteins do not result in calcium loss the same way as do animal proteins. If a postmenopausal woman loses 1-1.5 percent bone mass per year, what will be the effect after 20 years? When osteoporosis occurs levels of calcium (being excreted from the bones)in the blood are high. Milk only adds to these high levels of calcium which is excreted or used by the body to add to damaging atherosclerosis, gout, kidney stones, etc.
Bone mass does not increase after age 35. This is a biological fact that is not in dispute by scientists. However, this fact is ignored by marketing geniuses in the milk industry who make certain that women this age and older are targeted consumers for milk and dairy products. At least one in four women will suffer from osteoporosis with fractures of the ribs, hip or forearm. In 1994, University of Texas researchers published results of an experiment indicating that supplemental calcium is ineffective in preventing bone loss. Within 5 years of the initial onset of menopause, there is an accelerated rate of loss of bone, particularly from the spine. During this period of time, estrogen replacement is most effective in preventing rapid bone density loss.
Milk Consumption Does Not Prevent Hip Fractures
A publication in the February, 2003 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 77, No. 2, 504-511) clearly demonstrates that eighteen years of milk consumption did not prevent hip fractures for post-menopausal women. 72,737 subjects participated in the study.
As part of Walter Willett's Harvard Nurses Study, investigator Diane Feskanich performed statistical tests of significance for 18 years of data including dietary intake of calcium (dairy and supplements) to determine her findings.
The conclusion reached from this observational analyses, is that dietary calcium plays little or no role in preventing bone loss. Drinking milk does not prevent osteoporosis. A total of 603 hip fractures were analyzed.
The Harvard Nurses study previously determined that there is no positive association between teenaged milk consumption and the risk of adult fractures. (American Journal of Public Health 1997;87). As a matter of fact, just the opposite was found to be true. Women consuming greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods suffered significantly increased risks of hip fractures.
In light of these findings, the dairy industry milk mustache campaign has been proven to be one enormous deception. Bones break because women eating the wrong foods create an acid condition in their own bloodstreams, which must be neutralized by available calcium. The body achieves balance by taking calcium out of its own bones. People eating the greatest amount of total animal protein are the ones experiencing accelerated rates of bone loss. The same Journal of Clinical Nutrition, (1995; 61, 4) confirmed this truth: "Dietary protein increases production of acid in the blood which can be neutralized by calcium mobilized from the skeleton."
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (1979;32,4) reported: "Even when eating 1,400 mg of calcium daily, one can lose up to 4% of his or her bone mass each year while consuming a high-protein diet."
The Framingham Heart Study is the largest and most exciting heart study in the history of mankind.
From the study. homocysteines were identified as key factors in heart attack deaths. Homocysteines are normal breakdown products of methionine and are believed to exert a number of toxic effects in the body. The senior investigator of the Framinham heart study, William Castelli, M.D. (E-mail: william_castelli@mwmc.com) has suggested that an elevated homocysteine level is a risk factor for heart disease. The first evidence of this was published in the Amercian Journal of Cardiology (Glueck, 1995;75:1326).
Two recent publications resulting from Framingham data indicate a positive correlation between cardiovascular disease mortality and blood serum levels of homocysteine.
Bostom AG, et. al, Nonfasting plasma total homocysteine levels and all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in elderly Framingham men and women. Arch Intern Med 1999; 159:1077-1080.
Bostom A.G., et. al, Nonfasting plasma total homocysteine levels and stroke incidence in elderly persons: the Framingham Study. Ann Intern Med 131[5], 352-355, 1999.
In 1992, B.J. Abelow and colleagues published their study of cross-cultural associations between hip fractures and nutrition. Focusing upon dietary calcium and protein intake, their paper (Calcified Tissue International 50:14-18, 192) the research shows: Nations in which calcium intake averaged 1000 milligrams per day "enjoyed" the highest rates of hip fractures. Nations in which very little calcium was consumed exhibited low rates of hip fractures, contrary to what doctors and dairy industry marketing representatives wish us to believe.
Nations in which animal protein intake was high also experienced high rates of hip fractures. The opposite was also true. Nations in which animal protein intake was low had low rates of hip fractures.
DAILY DIETARY INTAKE: HIP FRACTURE
| NATION | CALCIUM | PROTEIN | RATE/100,000 |
| CA MG | PR | GMS | XX |
| USA | 973 | 77 | 145 |
| South Africa blacks | 196 | 10 | 7 |
| Singapore | 389 | 25 | 22 |
| New Guinea | 448 | 16 | 3 |
| Yugoslavia | 588 | 28 | 28 |
| Denmark | 960 | 58 | 165 |
| Holland | 1006 | 54 | 88 |
| Norway | 1087 | 67 | 190 |
| Sweden | 1104 | 59 | 188 |
| Finland | 1332 | 61 | 111 |
Cow's milk is both a "great source" of calcium.and animal protein. Nations eating such "great sources" of calcium and animal protein experience the highest rates of crippling bone disease.
Abelow's explanation has received little attention. He believes that elevated metabolic acid production associated with a high animal protein diet might lead to chronic bone buffering and bone dissolution. Subsequent studies have supported such a conclusion.
In 1994, the American Journal of Epidemiology (volume 139) reported:
"Consumption of dairy products, particularly at age 20 years, were associated with an increased risk of hip fractures...metabolism of dietary protein causes increased urinary excretion of calcium."
In 1995, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (vol.61:4) reported:
"Dietary protein increases production of acid in the blood which can be neutralized by calcium mobilized from the skeleton."
The 12-year Harvard study of 78,000 female nurses, published in the American Journal of Public Health (1997, volume 87), concluded:
"There is no significant association between teenaged milk consumption and the risk of adult fractures. Data indicate that frequent milk consumption and higher dietary calcium intakes in middle aged women do not provide protection against hip or forearm fractures...women consuming greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods had significantly increased risks of hip fractures, while no increase in fracture risk was observed for the same levels of calcium from nondairy sources."
Milk Causes Bone Fractures - The Nurse Study
The single-most important reason for drinking milk has been contradicted and negated by the largest scientific study in history.
Milk Does Not Protect Against Bone Breaks
Click on this backbreaker! 
The new ANTI-DAIRY advertising campaign from the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is an effective antidote for the dairy industry. "Don't count on milk to beat osteoporosis. In a Harvard study of 78,000 nurses, drinking three or more glasses of milk per day did not reduce fractures at all. An Australian study showed the same thing. Still, you do need calcium, and good non-dairy sources include fortified orange or apple juice, green leafy vegetables, beans and calcium supplements. The amount you need is less when you reduce sodium and animal protein in your diet. Exercise and vitamin D (from the sun or a supplement) are also key."
PCRM's ad campaign is based upon two studies; The Harvard Nurse's study - Cumming & Klineberg, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, and the Australian study - Feskanich, published in the American Journal of Public Health. FAX your request for these studies to: Dairy Education Board - 201-871-9304)
The Harvard Nurses Study - The worst news in dairy industry history
PCRM bases their ad campaign on the most complete and well-respected scientific study in American history; ongoing at Harvard University. Hundreds of publications in scientific journals have resulted from data gleaned from interviews and questionnaires completed by the study's participants. Diet records and health records are rigorously analyzed; obtained from 121,000+ female registered nurses in eleven states between the ages of 30 and 55. Nearly 78,000 nurses participated in the 12-year milk and bone fracture study.
The study found "no significant association" between teenaged milk consumption and the risk of adult fractures. Data from the study indicate that frequent milk consumption and higher dietary calcium intakes in middle aged women do not provide protection against hip or forearm fractures.
In the Harvard study, women consuming greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods had significantly INCREASED risks of hip fractures, while no increase in fracture risk was observed for the same levels of calcium from nondairy sources.
The Austrian Study
Two hundred thousand hip fractures occur in America every year. The Journal of Epidemiology published a case-controlled study of risk factors for hip fractures in the elderly. This study concludes: "Consumption of dairy products, particularly at age 20 years, were associated with an increased risk of hip fractures." The Australian study provides the mechanism for such a high correlation. The authors explain that the metabolism of dietary protein causes increased urinary excretion of calcium.
Nondairy Calcium Alternatives
Calcium is abundant in dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cooked dried beans, soy products, almonds, and sesame seeds. .
Calcium found in these and other plant foods is actually better absorbed than calcium in cow's milk. In a battle over milk's place on the new food pyramid, you have the government (USDA--given the dual and often conflicting role of protecting the nation's health and promoting its agricultural products) and the dairy industry on one side, and various physicians, nutritionists, and researchers on the other.
Dr. Walter C. Willett, professor and chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, has completed a study showing no evidence to support claims that milk and other calcium-rich foods significantly reduce osteoporosis-related bone fractures.
Dr Willett told the New York Times, "There's an ongoing campaign to get every adult to drink three glasses of milk a day." He continued, "That's obviously about increasing sales and profits." Regarding the same ad campaign, Willett told the Boston Globe, "If we do that, we'll increase saturated fat consumption in adults. That inevitably will increase heart attack rates." Large amounts of dairy products increase the amounts of fats, cholesterol, and artificial hormones fed to dairy cattle (to increase growth and milk production) taken into our bodies.
Patricia Bertron, RD, Neal D Barnard, MD, and Milton Mills, MD, give examples of alternative sources of calcium, "Many green vegetables have calcium absorption rates greater then 50% compared with about 32% for milk. a 1994 study reported calcium absorption of approximately 53% for broccoli, 64% for Brussels sprouts, 58% for mustard greens, and 52% for turnip greens."
They continue, "Beans and green leafy vegetables have nutritional advantages that differentiate them from dairy products. They are excellent sources of carotenoids and other antioxidants, complex carbohydrate, fiber, and iron. They contain no animal proteins or cholesterol, little or no saturated fat, and very little sodium unless it is added during cooking."
According to Michael Klaper, MD, "The human body has no more need for cows' milk that it does for dogs' milk, horses' milk, or giraffes' milk."
In September of 1998, the Dairy Education Board published a column containing a list of plant-based calcium alternatives. Human breast milk contains 33 milligrams of calcium per 100-gram portion. Baby humans do not grow up to become 1,200-pound cows.
Foods are naturally loaded with calcium. Cows do not drink milk to get their calcium. Their milk contains large amounts of calcium. They obtain calcium from eating grass or plant based foods. Their bones do not break
Vitamins and minerals are much better absorbed, utilized and retained by the body if they come from a natural  food source as compared to an unnatural isolated chemical source. To give you an example, the only place you can find vitamin C is inside food such as an orange. As soon as vitamin C leaves the food, it becomes ascorbic acid and it is no longer vitamin C. The body is designed to digest food, not chemical nutrients.
In the edible portions of our natural foods, vitamins and minerals are always found in protein complexes. They are never found as isolated pure molecules and they are never found to be bonded to other chemicals. Vitamins and minerals which are present in food are contained within a complex composition of proteins + carbohydrates + lipids + enzymes + bioflavonoids + trace elements.
When it comes to nutrition, plants and humans differ: "a typical plant makes its own food from raw materials... A typical animal eats its food" [1]. For plants, these "raw materials" include soil-based mineral salts [2].
Plants, with the aid of enzymes and soil-based microorganisms (which sometimes are depleted in the soil through synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides [3,4]), can take in mineral salts (from soil) which they have an affinity for [4]. After various metabolic processes, when, these minerals no longer exist as mineral salts, they become complexed with various carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins present in the plant, as part of the living organism [5]. Thus for nutrition, humans eat plants (and/or animals which eat plants), whereas plants can obtain their nutrients from the soil [4]. This process is commonly referred to as the "food chain" [5].
Human breast milk contains 33 milligrams of calcium per 100-gram portion. This is the lowest. on the list. Potato chips with 40 milligrams is higher.
| 
