Landmark Study Shows All Calcium Is Not The Same
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 6, 2010 -- According to researchers from the Harvard Medical School and University of Connecticut, a plant source of calcium has been shown to be more effective in building human bone cells than the most commonly used calcium supplements.
The study appears in the July 2010 issue of the journal, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry.
In head-to-head tests, the scientists compared the effects of a marine algae calcium, commercially known as AlgaeCal®, with the two top sellers, calcium carbonate and calcium citrate.
Focused on the proliferation, mineralization and oxidative stress in cultured human osteoblast cells, the study results showed the algae calcium increased alkaline phosphatase activity (a measure of mineralization) 200 percent more effectively than calcium carbonate and 250 percent better than calcium citrate. In addition, the plant calcium DNO 361 outperformed calcium carbonate and calcium citrate by 300 and 400 percent respectively on DNA synthesis - the ability of these osteoblasts to produce new bone-building cells.
Dr. Marcus Laux, a spokesperson for AlgaeCal Inc., explained, "In the past, researchers believed that all calciums performed similarly with the exception of some differences in absorption. This study dispels that widely accepted theory by demonstrating measurable performance differences occur between calcium forms at the cellular level. It is not well known that 90 percent of calcium supplements are made from milling limestone or marble, so the better result from plant calcium is not entirely surprising.”
Dr Laux pointed out that the algae calcium is live-harvested. “Indigenous South Americans hand-pick kiwi fruit-size algae as they wash up on shore,” he said. “This harvesting method does not harm the marine ecology and sets it apart from other marine calciums. Because of the purity of the harvesting method, bleaching is not necessary and AlgaeCal is the world's only certified organic calcium to USDA and EU standards."
AlgaeCal is available as a nutritional supplement on the Internet under the AlgaeCal Plus label, and in health food stores it is marketed under Garden of Life’s Vitamin Code RAW Calcium brand. Garden of Life is widely recognized as a leader in innovative, science-based products and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atrium Innovations Inc. (TSX: ATB).
Readers interested in reviewing a copy of the study should visit http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20213262. For more information about AlgaeCal, readers are invited to visit www.algaecal.com or www.algaemin.com.
To speak with an AlgaeCal spokesperson, or to obtain more information about the study, please call Nancy Trent or Pam Wadler at 212-966-0024.
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