Ok, full disclosure, I am not a scientist. I know I could be wrong. But, over the last year I have really been looking for more than just want the general dogmas say. First thing, I am not sure of any science as gospel. They are not always right or accurate. But with that said I made kind of an interesting discovery that I wanted to put out there and see what you guys think,,, and when I say that, just try to have an open mind. If you love your dairy don't be threatened... you can still have calcium, you just have to make sure you get the nutrients that will counteract the problem.
I have recently had a bad problem with too much calcium both in myself and my cat. My calcium is normal but on the high side. And my cat has slight hypercalcima. But all other tests come back normal (so the cat or myself don't have any sort of glandular problem) What I believe it is -- my tap water is just full of calcium (hard water). Over the years I have had -- plantar fasictis, and joint pain and I drank my tap.
One day, while tooling around on the net... someone suggested that calcium -- too much or not properly absorbed can cause problems in the body. There was a long list but one of them was -- insulin resistance. This got my attention as I have never heard it before. That calcium -- alone - sitting out in the blood stream and not getting where it needs to go -- blocks / or interferes with cellular receptors for insulin. So, you know how insulin resistance is basically the cell no longer responding to the proper dose of insulin -- so your body has to release more? Um, what if that is because of too much / unabsorbed calcium blocking the insulin receptors in the cell?
Currently the insulin resistance story suggests now for "some reason" your cells stop responding to normal insulin. They don't really have a reason -- they think it is from too much sugar / over use. But what if there is a solid reason? What if your cells aren't broken... but are just clogged up.
Look, it sort of makes sense. We know that both vitamin D and Magnesium help the body to get calcium in the right places. And both Vitamin D and Magnesium have been shown to reduce insulin resistance. Same with vitamin K2. Vitamin D3 has been shown in several studies now to affect weight loss (ie, you lose more weight the higher your blood levels).
In point of fact there are several studies that hint at this... that show higher levels of calcium can interfere with glucose metabolism. I would link them but my internet is down today and I am using my iphone and so I barely can get this off. But a google search could likely bring it up for you. Google calcium and impaired glucose metabolism.
The moment I heard it, it was one of those -- AH HA! Moments. My cat is a big fatty and I don't give him that much to eat. Several blogger friends are clearly insulin resistant (they eat nothing and still don't lose weight) and have plantar fascitis -- more commonly known as a heel spur (calcium deposit on the heel). Obesity is associated with insulin resistance but you could have another theory on that. Vitamin D3 lives in fat cells. So the fatter you are, the less Vitamin D3 you actually get. So when I was 214 lbs... I needed 4000 IU to maintain healthy blood level. Now, I only need 1000 IU. So if a person who is 200 lbs is not supplementing with enough vitamin D, the calcium is not being put in the right place.
In the modern american diet there is a lot of calcium but there may not be a ton of Vitamin D3, Magnesium (which is also hard to absorb) and or K2 (found mostly in butter and natto). So the body is swimming with calcium which is eventually forced out of the body as waste. Humn... is that why so many people have kidney stones?
Why is diabetes an epidemic only in the last say 20 years? Surely since 2002 or so Atkins changed the way people eat to be aware of eating too much sugar... and yet... the problem continues -- some say, worse than ever. Can it really be that the mass population is that stupid or, are they stuffing themselves full of calcium supplements, dairy, ice cream etc, thinking they are doing the body good, and getting very little Vitamin D, Magnesium, or other minerals / nutrients that allow the calcium to go to where it needs to be. Resulting in 80% of the population being insulin resistant with maybe 40% being diabetic?
So, if you think this is true, the solutions happens to be an easy one, and one that is good for you no matter what. Supplement with nutrients / that will allow the calcium to absorb into your bones and not just float around in the blood stream. Vitamin D3, Magnesium, K2, etc.