I've got some ocean front property in Arizona, from my front porch you can see the sea...

June 11, 2003 2:02 PM

The Coral Calcium scam. Coral Calcium products are on fire right now, with infomercials and brochures claiming that the miracle supplements can cure everything from fatigue to cancer. Of course there is no scientific evidence supporting any of these claims and one of the two men featured in the infomercials is a convicted felon named Kevin Trudeau. New FTC actions are ongoing and The Mayo Clinic has just sent out a letter to patients warning that the broad range of benefits claimed by those marketing some Coral Calcium products are simply too good to be true and that if the calcium indeed comes form the Okinawa area as claimed, it could be contaminated with lead.
posted by bargle (15 comments total)

More about that great fellow Trudeau
posted by bargle at 2:06 PM on June 11, 2003

That Mercury-News coral calcium story comes complete with four different links on a sidebar for places you can buy "Barefoot-endorsed" coral calcium. I think I'll pick up some to go with my colloidal silver.
posted by kozad at 2:11 PM on June 11, 2003

"all i know is--"
(pixies ref. response here)
between citrate and carbonate, one absorbs a bit better
and i always forget which

*fetches soymilk*
posted by ethylene at 2:13 PM on June 11, 2003

Oh boy, my mother-in-law swears by this stuff.

I bought some for my wife too, because of her family tendency towards Osteoporosis. (* sighs * )
posted by troutfishing at 3:01 PM on June 11, 2003

Business as usual.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 3:22 PM on June 11, 2003

Not being up on the latest in pseudoscientific health fads, I've had no exposure to this other than receiving a bafflingly huge quantity of spam advertising the stuff. Generally if a product is spamvertised it presents itself as being of dubious effectiveness at best.
posted by majick at 3:28 PM on June 11, 2003

Yep, nothing better than quack environmental destruction. Maybe we can get some rhino horn and shark cartilage to go with it. Has anyone found any supposed health benefits from Koalas or Pandas yet?
posted by Badgermann at 4:27 PM on June 11, 2003

I hear goat glands are about to make a big comeback.
posted by briank at 5:57 PM on June 11, 2003

All Things Considered had an interesting feature about this yesterday. Perhaps the most interesting aspect was that they tested various calcium supplements to verify the advertised dosage and find anything else....they did find lead in one of the coral calcium supplements.

On a side note, if you are looking for a good calcium supplement, viactiv is the best thing since sliced bread IMHO.
posted by dicaxpuella at 6:37 PM on June 11, 2003

Suppliments in general are a joke because most of it is not in a form usable by the body. It's like eating iron shaveings won't work.
posted by stbalbach at 7:24 PM on June 11, 2003

Badgermann: Has anyone found any supposed health benefits from Koalas or Pandas yet?

No, but they sure taste good.

Ba-dum!

Re: the coral calcium thing -- it truly never, never fails to boggle my mind that some people actually fall for this crap. It's beyond "gullible".
posted by davidmsc at 7:24 PM on June 11, 2003

Aren't most coral beds protected marine sancturaries?
posted by five fresh fish at 8:20 PM on June 11, 2003

My dad has been trying to get me to start taking coral calcium weeks. Think I'll print this out and send it to him.
posted by kindall at 9:19 PM on June 11, 2003

1) Fly out to Great Barrier Reef

2) ?? (but involving explosives and hammers)

3) PROFIT!

Plus, it's kinda like strip mining the ocean, after you stun all the fish on the reef with cyanide and explosives, of course.

I can see the slogans now...

"Coral Calcium... Don't Let a Good Reef Go To Waste"
posted by badzen at 9:30 PM on June 11, 2003

I have seen plenty of people in our osteopathic treatment wing with problems related to Coral Calcium use.
posted by omidius at 10:41 PM on June 11, 2003