The health benefits of coral calcium were discovered in 1979, when a British journalist representing the Guinness Book of records traveled to Okinawa to talk to Shigechiyo Izumi, who at 115 years old was at the time the world's oldest documented living human being. Not only was the journalist impressed and surprised at how healthy such an old man was, but he also found that good health to be shared by the majority of Okinawa's aged residents.



After his report was filed on his return to England, a team of researchers were sent to the island to make further investigations in the phenomenon. They found that the key to their longevity was the water they were drinking. The water of Okinawa appeared unique, and coral calcium was discovered.

It was not only the calcium, of course, that made such as difference but the whole mineral balance of the water. Okinawa is formed of coral reefs built up over millennia, and rainwater filters down through the coral collecting minerals and other nutrients on its way. This water is both alkaline, with a pH of 8.6, and closely resembles the natural mineral composition, not only of the human skeleton but also of body fluids such as blood plasma and amniotic fluid. It seemed the ideal stuff to bottle, and there are now over 4 million users of coral calcium in Japan alone.

The commercial use of Sango coral, as it is called, is controlled by the Japanese government, and living coral is left untouched: only the dead coral sand lying on the ocean bed is used. The sand is collected and cleaned, and then pulverized and the calcium and all the rest of the minerals it contains are easily absorbed by the body.

It is this ease of absorption that renders coral calcium so useful. Most minerals find it difficult to pass from the intestine to the bloodstream, but this is not a problem for the minerals in Sango coral. Because they do not come from inorganic mined minerals, but from natural organic sources, they are present in a very bio-available form and are readily absorbed into the bloodstream. It not only contains the common minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, and so on, but also many trace elements that are essential for life. Not only that, however, but they also contain antioxidants to help prevent the oxidative stress caused by free radicals, and also at a pH that allows the minerals to become naturally ionic very readily.

It is this ionic form of each mineral that permits it to be so readily available to your system. This was a major discovery at the time, since the form that inorganic minerals generally come in had been a problem prior to this to the extent that only 10% was absorbed by the body. In comparison, 95% of the coral calcium and other minerals are able to be easily absorbed since they are in an ionized form ? an even higher absorbency than colloidal minerals allow.

Why are minerals so important and how can they possible lead to such an effect on the elderly of Okinawa? In fact minerals are very important components of human metabolism and biochemistry. Most believe vitamins to be significantly more important to human health than minerals, but this is not the case. Many vitamins are useless without the synergistic effect of minerals, and the reverse is also the same.

For example, calcium needs vitamin D to be present before it can be used by the body to strengthen bone structure. There are many other such interactions involving vitamins and minerals, and without chelation (the rendering of large organic molecules to a soluble form by combining them with metal ions) many of the essential biochemical processes of life would be impossible. Coral calcium contains all the minerals found in your body, and in very similar proportions, so that you are able to use it to maintain that all important synergism and not throw the mineral balance of your body out of balance. This is very easy to do if you take individual mineral supplements.

However, there is still more to come from this remarkable substance. It is also rich in antioxidants that spell death for free radicals. Free radicals can't really die, because they are not living entities but molecules that have a free electron, and free electrons like to pair up with other electrons. Free radicals are therefore very aggressive when near any body cell from which they can rob an electron, and that, unfortunately, destroys the cell.

Not only that but they also oxidize molecules from which they take the electron, and if that is a low density lipoprotein, or LDL, that happens to be carrying some cholesterol to one of your arteries that needs a bit of repair work, then it will cause the LDL to deposit the cholesterol immediately and form plaques that constrict and narrow your arteries. That is called atherosclerosis and it can kill you or give you a stroke. Cholesterol is essential for good health, but once the free radicals get to work you are better without it.

However, Sango coral contains substances that prevent the free radicals from oxidizing other substances, and in so doing destroy them. That's what antioxidants do. They prevent free radicals from oxidizing other molecules and creating all sorts of havoc with your health. Excessive amounts of free radicals have been associated with over 80 different conditions, and one of the benefits of coral calcium is that it is one of the most powerful antioxidants known.

It is not only the mineral content and antioxidant properties of coral calcium that are of benefit to the human body, but also its pH. The various fluids of your body are maintained at a specific pH, which is a measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a fluid. This should be slightly alkaline without being caustic. If your body fluids are too acidic it becomes difficult for you to absorb minerals and vitamins, and it is essential for you maintain a balance of from around 6.4 to 7.0 Any lower than that and you will find it difficult to sleep and you will feel listless with no energy.

You can measure the pH of your body by testing your urine with pH strips available at any pharmacy. Coral calcium can be used to maintain a good pH level that allows your body to absorb the nutrients it needs, and keep you feeling not only well, but young and sprightly just like Shigechiyo Izumi did at 115 years old.