Products
Coral calcium is commercially available in many countries in capsule and powder form. It is not a registered drug, but a dietary supplement. The products are expensive compared to regular calcium.
Ingredients
Coral calcium is mainly composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3, Mr = 100.1 g/mol), a white powder that is practically insoluble in water. It contains other minerals such as magnesium. Calcium carbonate is nothing more than lime, which is also contained in the numerous calcium preparations. Coral calcium is extracted from fossilized coral from Okinawa Prefecture in Japan.
Fields of application
Manufacturers promote coral calcium worldwide as an anti-aging agent and for a wide variety of conditions, such as osteoarthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and multiple sclerosis (“indication lyric”). In the U.S., the preprarates were popularized by savvy marketers such as Kevin Trudeau and Robert Barefoot, who claimed that the health and longevity of the people of Okinawa was based on coral calcium in their drinking water. A fact that the locals themselves vehemently deny (Okinawa Centenarian Study, 2003). They attribute their good health primarily to their healthy lifestyle. Scientific evidence for the specific effectiveness of coral calcium is lacking.
Conclusion
Coral calcium is overpriced, ecologically questionable, and little different from ordinary calcium, which is cheap and available in good quality. The claimed areas of application should be rejected in our view. It is not the patients who benefit from coral calcium, but the traders who earn good money with it.
