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Okinawa Coral Calcium:
Historical Overview
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Okinawa, composed of hundreds of
coral reef islands, is located
at the southern tip of the mainland of Japan. Some of the islands were created by volcanic activity which filled
the waters around the islands with mineral nutrients for the coral to absorb. It is a Prefecture (Province) with
approximately 1.5 million inhabitants.
Health & Longevity
Recent population statistics show that Okinawa
has more centenarians than other
parts of Japan, and ten times as
many per capita as the United States.
Japan itself is noted for longevity, but Okinawa stands out as a special location for health, well-being and elite
elderly inhabitants. The average number of people at or over the age
of 100 years is 29 per 100,000 of the population compared with the national, Japanese average of 9 per 100,000 people. This compares with about 3 per 100,000 of the population in the United States
or almost a ten fold difference. Native
Okinawans are among the healthiest
and are the longest living people in the world due to their lifestyle and diet.
A major reason for their longevity
is based on a few Scientific Facts concerning their
outdoor exposure to the sun and the high Calcium content in their water and soil.
SCIENTIFIC FACTS
(#1) Sunlight Exposure causes Vitamin
D Production
It is a known scientific fact that
when UVB sunlight strikes the human
skin, Vitamin D production occurs.
When Vitamin D is available
in large quantities, Vitamin D
lines the intestinal tract which results in dramatic Calcium absorption.
(#2) Calcium is difficult
to absorb without Vitamin D
Calcium is a positively charged
ion and is very difficult for the human body to absorb due
to the fact that our intestinal walls are lined with positively charged villi that repel the positively charged
ion, calcium. However, when Vitamin
D passes through our digestive tract, Vitamin
D attaches to the ends of the villi and changes the positive charge to a negative charge which then allows the villi to magnetically grab the Calcium ion as it passes by.
What is the result?
If the intestinal tract villi
are full of Vitamin D, Calcium absorption is improved 20 fold. Without Vitamin D, Calcium will simply pass through your body and you will get no benefits from the Calcium you consume in your diet.
Biological Partners
Vitamin D & Calcium
You CAN NOT
get benefits from one without the
other!
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1990's
In the late 1990's approximately
400 people in Okinawa were recorded
to be living beyond their 100th birthday,
and those in their 80's and 90's
lead extremely robust, active, healthy, youthful and productive lives. This longevity among Okinawans is striking.
Chinese Emporer
It is recorded in folklore and
legends that an Emperor of China sent a mission of three thousand explorers to find
the land of "heaven on earth."
This heavenly place was called "Horai" - according to legend - and it was believed to be present in the warm ocean off the east
coast of China. The Chinese Emperor was seeking the elixir of life (or "fountain
of youth") and he commanded
his missionaries to bring him back the life sustaining tonic. To the Emperor's dismay, the mission did not return.
Legend states that these Chinese
explorers found an island paradise that was too satisfying for them to leave. This island was considered the land mass of "eternal life." Legend identifies
this place as the prefecture of Okinawa,
with its coral base and pristine, clear seas. Many cultures hold similar legends, but the quality and length of
life of the inhabitants of Okinawa make this story plausible. Understanding how the habitat of Okinawa promotes health and well-being has been a key
focus of anti-aging research for several decades. Whilst one should not believe in "fairy tales, modern researchers have increasingly found that
folklore is a great starting point to examine new scientific concepts in natural medicine. In fact, researchers
at the National Institutes of Health in the US have used folklore accounts of remedies of natural origin to select
botanicals and marine organisms for investigation and research as new treatments. This approach has been found
to be especially valuable and productive in the search for new anti-cancer compounds. Perhaps this is why Okinawan folklore for thousands of years has taught that "the islands of Okinawa shall one day
cure the world."
Hippocrates:"Let your medicine
be your food and your food your medicine"
Okinawan people view food and medicine
as synonymous. This was also the
view of the Father of Medicine,
Dr. Hippocrates, who declared 2500 years ago that "All food was medicine and the best food was the best medicine." This inseparability of food from medicine is a foreign
concept to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who continue to ignore the medicinal qualities of food while
extolling the virtues of killer drugs. Also, this inseparability of food from medicine is reflected in the phrase
"Nuchi-Gusui" which is used in Okinawa to give thanks for food. In contrast, he term "Gochi-Soo-Sama"
is a common phrase for giving thanks for meals in mainland Japan. When roughly translated the term "Nuchi-Gusui" used by the Okinawans means "The Life Medicine."
This cultural attitude to food emphasizing the act of eating to support body structure and function is absent in
many Western societies, especially the United States with its horrific track record of disease. Certainly, this
attitude is also inconsistent with the American "Double Whopper Brain" and "Big Gulp
Society" that has created
many other "Fast Food Nations." The most popular staple in the diet of Okinawans is "firm tofu"
which is used with calcium in its preparation. The act of "adding coral calcium" to tofu has been variably practiced by Okinawans and ensures optimal mineral intake.
Doctors leave Okinawa
Recorded in the history of Okinawa is the phenomenon of exodus of physicians. Local folklore history holds that
physicians and healers left Okinawa
when coral was included increasingly in the diet of the local populations. This circumstance was attributed to a precipitous decline in disease which tended to make the physicians redundant. This lack of doctors was noted by the Spanish explorers who believed correctly that the reason
was coral calcium, and thus they filled their ship holds with coral calcium instead
of the customary gold bullion.
In addition, popular history refers to enhanced
agricultural production when coral was used in agricultural practices as fertilizer and a food supplement. It should be noted that the Okinawans were a highly educated society that meticulously documented their history. As a result, their stories are much more than simply
hearsay. Besides this, it is well known that many of the secrets of life are derived from the oceans. While we
are still exploring the landmass of the earth, the oceans hold many secrets that are relatively inaccessible. The
oceans are an enormous collection
of metals, minerals and chemical substances that sustain life and that can be absorbed by the coral. The seas contain many factors that are produced by
its' own living organisms.
Coral Reefs: What are they?
Corals belong to the phylum (group)
of marine organisms called Cnidaria
(Coelenterata) which also
includes jellyfish, sea anemones and hydroids. These organisms tend to be symmetrical with a digestive tract that
has one single opening. They possess
a "nematocyst" or stinging apparatus which contains and protects the coral polyp with venom of varying
potency. The stony corals are named
because they secrete a supporting
exoskeleton (outside hard structure).
This stony covering contains the
soft structures of the living coral polyps.
These living corals form reefs which support a large biomass. Coral reefs yearly secrete clouds of sperm to flood and impregnate the reefs to create
new growth. In tropical waters
and some temperate zones these corals
proliferate to a vast degree that builds islands. A classic example of this geographic phenomenon is the infrastructure of the island chains in and
around Okinawa, Japan.
How is Coral Calcium Harvested
for Consumers?
Coral calcium is derived from reef-building coral and it is harvested from the pristine waters in deep ocean troughs many miles off the Nansei Islands (Rukuyuku and Satsunan), Japan. These islands spread towards the south east from the
southern tip of Japan's main land mass towards Taiwan. The coral that is broken off by wave action or munching fish (coral calcium) is carried by ocean currents miles out into the ocean
where it is deposited in deep sea troughs
and can be harvested without
disturbing the reefs. Using careful, harvesting techniques that are sustaining
for the environment, several companies collect and process coral calcium
for use as a food supplement.
Japanese Government Certification
& Oversight
The Japanese government supervises
this collection process and they provide special certification to certain types of coral. Therefore, any
criticism that the reefs are endangered is totally absurd as the coral, which is harvested with ecologically safety, is not even harvested from the reefs. It is important to recognize that two broad, but distinct types of coral calcium
are used as health giving supplements by the Japanese and many people throughout the world.
2 Types of Coral Calcium for
Supplements: Fossilized & Marine Grade
The first type is fossilized
calcium that has been deposited
on the land mass, or washed up on to beaches.
The second type is taken directly
from the sea bed. The sea-bed coral
is the coral that has dropped from the reef or is processed by reef inhabitants. This type of "coral sand," marine coral, has been washed to the ocean floor
by wave actions. Marine coral is closer in composition to the living
forms of corals, because the marine microbes are still active and many minerals and organic elements are retained.
There are important differences in composition between fossilized (land-based) coral and marine (seabed)
coral. Marine coral contains
more magnesium, and the balance of calcium (24%) to magnesium (12%) content of this second type of marine coral
is close to 2 to 1. This 2 to 1
ratio, according to many biochemists, is
the ideal ratio for calcium and magnesium intake in the human diet. Barefoot's research has led him to believe that the natural, magnesium enriched, marine
coral is to be strongly preferred as a health giving supplement over land based (fossilized coral), which contains
less than 1% magnesium. This
superiority is due to its retained, ideal, ionic balance of calcium and magnesium in a 2:1 ratio, and the fact
that a host of other nutrients were also washed out during weathering processes.
Don't be fooled by FALSE ADVERTISING!
Fossilized, land-based coral
has had much of the mineral nutrients washed out due to rainfall & year round weathering. Unscrupulous companies selling the cheap and inferior fossilized coral spread the fear
that the reefs are being damaged
so that people will refrain from
buying the high grade marine coral, and purchase their dirt cheap dirt coral instead.
Coral Calcium close up
Under a microscope, coral appears
as tubes, horns and honey combs.
It has the appearance of a fascinating and abandoned ancient city. Coral calcium has been officially recognized by the Japanese government as a valuable
food supplement. This official
standing was registered by Japan in July 1989, but the coral sands have enjoyed thousands of years of local use
as an important source of health giving nutrients in the diet of Okinawans.
Spanish Explorers
Coral Calcium was discovered
by the early Spanish explorers, over 500 years ago, who filled their ship holds with the coral sands, instead of the usual gold bullion. The chemists in Spain, attempting to discover the reason for its miraculous curative properties, discovered that the main ingredient was calcium, so
the coral sands were re-named "coral calcium." Today, tens of millions of people around the world consume coral calcium daily.
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