It seems strange to be writing about calcium. I got diagnosed with having osteoporosis at the same time I was informed I had rheumatoid arthritis, and that it probably developed from a lack of calcium intake. A sign of entropy in a closed system. For a closed system to work as designed it has to import the materials it needs to run that system. In this case, my body needed more calcium than it was getting, and so it began redistributing the calcium it possessed that was already in the system. From my bones. From my teeth. It's easy enough to speculate on the results of that.
I think I started overdoing the dairy products thing because milk is supposed to have a lot of calcium in it. The problem seems to be that it also has a lotta other stuff the adult person doesn't need, and in fact an overabundance of it seems to be downright detrimental to the body.
I don't know if any of this is true, of course, but since when has the truth had anything to do with how I figure things? This current theory seems to have started out at the Wal-Mart pharmacy. The SuperCenter is the closest store that sells domestic consumer good to my house. Why drive all the way across town to buy something and pay more for it. I like WallyWorld. I'm just their kind of customer.
I regularly look at all the dietary supplements at the vitamin section. That stuff is very expensive, even at Wal-Mart, and so mostly I'm just reading labels and remembering what I've read about the ingredients. Not any different than I do at the grocery shelves.
I found myself attracted to the various kinds of calcium products. The feature that seemed to offer the most bang for the buck was one that had a bright splash on the label that it was the same one offered on TV! When I read the ingredients list, however, it really did have more vitamins and minerals than the other calcium products beside it on the shelf.
The one thing that really caught my attention relating to the calcium was that it said it was harvested from coral off the coast of Taiwan. Then, I looked at the other products and they were all made from coral too. They featured the fact that they used coral as a calcium source rather than from dairy products. I bought the "As Seen On TV" product. because it had more bang for my buck.
Later, after my VA doctor wrote me a letter telling me my blood test indicated I had rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis, she immediately prescribed me calcium pills with vitamin D. The same dosage and ingredients as the "As Seen On TV" calcium product at Wal-Mart, but without some of the vitamins the commercial stuff had.
What this is leading up to is that I may have a problem with dairy products. The coral calcium is what I should have been reaching for rather than trying to get calcium from milk products.
I've stopped using dairy products or at least I thought I had. It turns out that my diet has be inundated with dairy products I had ignored. The little splash of half and half I put in my oatmeal in the morning. The slices of cheese I put in my sandwiches. BUTTER! OMG, not butter! I've been gorging on sour cream with dried onion soup in it. Usually a party dip, but I've been using it as a condiment with practically everything I cook myself (I'm not a very skilled chef.)
It's interesting to me how now that the nutritionists at the highest levels are saying they have been recommending a low RNA for vitamin D at 400 IU. The new RNA is now 2000 IU. Vitamin D is more critically involved with bones and the skeleton than they ever figured. They thought just being out in the sun is enough to cure any ailment having to do with vitamin D.
They say that women and housewives who stay inside a lot have more problems with osteoporosis than the ones who are out in the sun a lot. Even then there seems to be a deficiency of some sort. The problem is supposedly solved by taking vitamin D supplements and non-dairy based calcium. This study was only completed about three years ago. It may turn out that osteoporosis may be prevented by vitamin D and calcium supplements. All those dead coral reefs turning up all over the world may be a blessing in disguise.
I do not attempt to tell the God's own truth here because I don't know what the truth is or hardly ever. I try to capture the drifting thoughts that randomly appear in my imagination for reasons I may not understand. I don't know if the content I capture with these words is true or false. The Comments settings are turned off to prevent me from having to defend what amounts to little more than fanciful, sometime crude speculation. Great moments in our lives never return.
