Dirty Secrets About Your Calcium Supplement
When a company uses the credibility of a high quality branded ingredient to habitus the reputation of a finished product, since quietly switches this key ingredient for a low quality ' knockoff, ' I call this nutritional counterfeiting. Consumers think they are taking the embryonic product considering the packaging looks identical misplaced the little branded ingredient logo, but what they don ' t know is that the key active ingredient has been switched out for one which may not give them the results of the first ingredient.
As a researcher in a new study on a plant - based calcium supplement, it was on the top of my mind when I recently visited some local vitamin stores looking for some calcium for my family and myself. I was predisposed with the results of this marine algae calcium versus the other two leading calcium sources, so I wanted to eye in what brands of finished products this ingredient was fresh. Retail staff at two of the four stores I visited at once recognized the plant calcium ingredient ( AlgaeCalāļ ) that was the subject of my study, and suggested New Chapter Inc ' s product, Bone Strength Take Care, as the most popular calcium product in their stores - but when I looked for the AlgaeCal ingredient on the label, it was nowhere to be found! The store staff were visibly come apart and unable to answer why the AlgaeCal had been switched or how the new calcium ingredient compared. In actuality, three out of four of the store ' s management had not realized that there was an ingredient change until I inquired.
The manufacturer had plainly shipped the new approach and not notified the stores of the key ingredient change, i. e, the calcium substitution.
Although I ' m in no way affiliated with the manufacturers of AlgaeCal or paid by them, I made it my business to learn about it over the months that the University of Connecticut Nurture of Medicine and Harvard University Medical Inculcate conducted the human osteoblast study. I learned AlgaeCal is the only certified organic calcium source in the world. It is picked by hand from South American coastal waters while it is living. The Atlantic ocean pushes new tennis ball sized pinkish algae up onto the sandy beaches every day and they are picked before the sunshine turns them white. Like apples falling from a tree, they are either used immediately or they go to away - in other words they are sustainably and ecologically harvested. But, what impresses me most about this sui generis calcium ingredient is that it has been the subject of more than a dozen research studies looking at bone density, bio - availability, tolerability, safety and other parameters.
With the scientific support, ecological endorsement, and organic certification of AlgaeCal it is evident why New Chapter used it in its Bone Strength Take Care product to bring about with. However, it appears that they requirement have switched to new form of marine algae calcium at last early 2010. From my inquiries, it is evident this new product is a different algae genus and trifle like the AlgaeCal. It is primarily stale when vacuumed from the ocean concrete in an industrial scale dredging operation. A immense proportion of the vacuumed material is so discontinued from the boat, effectively silting the surrounding area and stifling local sort. And, more to my surprise and job, this calcium has no bone density research. They do have one bio - availability study but it only measures an exceptional parathyroid hormone movement to calcium - a study design that is flawed and not passable by the research rabble. For a product like calcium that I hold to take for the closest several decades, I don ' t want to
roll the dice on whether it ' s helping my bones or not. I want good well designed research studies representation that it is safe and serving. With a few phone calls, I clever that this ingredient costs about 1 / 5th to 1 / 7th of what AlgaeCal costs, so I believe the motivation for switching is plain.
Retailers, such as Whole Foods Market and others, which lump together to stringent environmental commitments, routinely remove products that injure the environment, so I was surprised to peep this product on their shelves. Very recently, Krill oil supplements have been banned by Whole Foods Markets over of the possible threat of over - harvesting. More opportune is the position of blood calcium, which was also balky from Whole Foods shelves several years ago fitting to ecological concerns - and it is harvested by the duplicate vacuum methods as the new calcium substitute in Bone Strength Take Care. If my ad hoc market survey is any indication, even the largest and most ethical retailers are being duped. Along with millions of consumers, I believe that Whole Foods and other retailers are victims of nutraceutical supplement counterfeiting.
If a company invests in purity, ecological harvesting practices, certifications, and multiple studies for their ingredient as in the position of AlgaeCal, and a manufacturer uses those selling points to get their finished product to the top ( Bone Strength is the number one selling calcium in health food stores today according to available market data ), they should at elementary announce a doorknob to a minor calcium, substantially change their packaging, and reduce their price. New channels Bone Strength Take Care was on the store shelves for around $60 per bottle - the most dear calcium I ' ve empitic. If I ' m going to pay that much for a bottle of calcium, it had better encircle the real ingredient! I pipe dream that consumers and retailers do the right thing and pack a message to all companies in this industry who embezzle the thunder of actual ingredient suppliers. Look for the logo of branded and well researched ingredients and support those companies who conduct high quality research for their ingredient.
