Your body requires calcium for some very important purposes, including bone health. Coral calcium, which comes from coral particles, has been touted to treat a number of conditions ranging from cancer to arthritis. Evidence to support these claims is sorely lacking. Using this supplement might offer some basic benefits but will unlikely address any serious health concern. The Food and Drug Administration has sent warnings to coral calcium manufacturers for making unsubstantiated claims about the therapeutic benefits of these supplements. Consult your doctor before using coral calcium.
Acid Reduction
Coral calcium exists in the form of calcium carbonate, which is used in antacid products. Licensed acupuncturist and founder of the Pulse of Oriental Medicine website, Brian Carter, refers to coral calcium as your run-of-the-mill antacid minus the sugar. If you suffer from heartburn, using this supplement might alleviate symptoms.
Meeting Calcium and Magnesium Needs
Using coral calcium could help you meet your basic calcium and magnesium needs. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, MSKCC, reports coral calcium has the proper ratio of calcium to magnesium that your body requires. According to Carter, studies have shown it offers better absorption than standard calcium carbonate supplements. Calcium citrate supplements, however, offer better absorption that the carbonate form. You also require adequate stomach acid to absorb calcium carbonate; older individuals often produce less stomach acid, which would affect how much the body utilizes.
If your interest in using calcium supplements stems from wanting to meet your daily needs, coral calcium probably does not represent the best option.
Medication Interactions
Antacids can affect the absorption of iron and certain drugs, including the antibiotics tetracycline and quinolones, the anti-inflammatory drug rofecoxib, the anti-seizure drug phenytoin and the anti-fungal drug ketoconazole. Calcium in general might also interact negatively with diuretics, the cardiac medicine digoxin, blood pressure medications and the osteoporosis drug alendronate. Depending on the drug used, you might simply need to space consumption of the supplement and the medicine a few hours apart. In some instances, however, you might need to forgo supplementation altogether. Discuss this with your doctor.
Carter notes that the interference with absorption could prove problematic if you take medications whose dosages have been specifically tailored within a narrow margin to exert a therapeutic effect, such as warfarin or other anticoagulant drugs.
Contraindicated Uses
The presence of certain health conditions makes calcium supplementation potentially dangerous. Do not use calcium supplements if you suffer from kidney stones, hyperparathyroidism, kidney failure, sarcoidosis or any other conditions that can raise levels of calcium or phosphorus in the body. Cancer could also raise calcium levels. Talk to your doctor about the appropriateness of calcium supplements in this instance. The University of Maryland Medical Center advises avoiding calcium supplementation if you have an increased risk of prostate cancer.
Other Considerations
MSKCC notes an analysis by an independent testing company discovered that many natural calcium supplements, such as coral calcium, have been contaminated with lead. Coral calcium costs much more than standard calcium supplements, but it does not appear to offer any special benefits. In addition, the harvesting of coral to make these supplements damages coral reef ecosystems, which directly impacts the survival of marine life that inhabits the reefs.
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