A Book Review: The Calcium Lie II – What Your Doctor Still Doesn’t Know

In 2008, the authors published the first edition, The Calcium Lie – What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You. Then in 2013, they updated the information in The Calcium Lie – What Your Doctor Still Doesn’t Know. In this review we will look at the revised edition.

Dr. Robert Thompson, MD who maintains a medical practice in Alaska, at one time did not know what he lays out in this book. He, like most well-meaning health professionals, treated patients according to what he had learned in medical school for many years. Kathleen Barnes, a health journalist and author, lives in North Carolina. Dr. Thompson says that Kathleen helps him communicate in terms that his readers will understand.

This reviewer has administered numerous home school assessments over the years in which the General Information section of the tool she uses includes a question: “What mineral is most necessary to make bones hard?” Many have answered correctly, according to what they have learned and according to the assessment tool, “Calcium.”

Our authors would have us remember that the exam that determines whether a patient has osteoporosis or its precursor, osteopenia is the dexa MINERAL bone scan test. This name should help us remember that bones are made up of many minerals, one of which is calcium. By supplementing calcium alone, we actually harden more than our bones – calcification can occur in arteries, kidneys and other places in our bodies. Dr. Thompson reminds us throughout the book that “Calcium hardens concrete!”

Having gone into medicine with “altruistic” ideas, Dr. Thompson had become disenchanted with his profession, ready to quit. He reconsidered when in 1996 a peer-reviewed directory chose him as one of the “Best Doctors in America.” Encouraged, he decided to continue to make a difference.

Minerally Bankrupt (Chapter 1) – This foundational chapter states that bones consist of at least 12 minerals. “Excess calcium can cause:

• Kidney and gallstones

• Arterial plaque (and heart disease)

• Bone spurs (joints / osteoarthritis)

• Calcium deposits in tissues other than bones

• Brain cell dysfunction, brain shrinkage and dementia.” (p. 9)

• Cataracts

• Cancer

• Diabetes

• Hypothyroidism

• Hypertension (p. 29)

• Obesity (p. 39)

• Migraines (p. 43)

“Too much calcium causes the adrenal glands to be suppressed in order for the kidneys to hold on to the necessary magnesium in an attempt to keep these two minerals in balance.” (p. 19)

Before the invention of refrigeration, our forefathers used sea or rock salt to preserve food. Our natural balance of minerals left with this change. “Because a mineral ‘footprint’ is passed from mother to child, each generation has become progressively more deficient in these essential minerals.” (p. 12)

To add more injury to our systems, when the use of iodine in making bread and canned goods was exchanged with cheaper bromine, we began to see an increase in “thyroid disease and cancer, breast cysts, fibrous changes, cyclic tenderness and cancer, prostrate inflammation and cancer, and ovarian hormonal dysfunction, ovarian cysts, endometriosis and ovarian cancer.” (p. 13)

Table salt destroys health and the best mineral supplement is unrefined rock or sea salt. Dr. Thompson explains that the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HMTA) gives the best possible analysis of the mineral levels and guides the medical practitioner in properly supplementing. He recommends only Trace Minerals, Inc. for doing the test.

Throughout the book, Dr. Thompson gives mini lessons on biochemistry that all doctors study in medical school. Amazingly, most doctors have forgotten their biochemistry and continue to follow the “Calcium Lie,” “The Calcium Myth” (chapter 2), and “The Vitamin Lie” (chapter 7).

Our authors devote chapters to the following health conditions and how they relate to calcium:

• Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Calcium (chapter 3)

• Digestive Dilemmas: Poor Protein Digestion, Sodium Deficiency and Cell Membrane Dysfunction (chapter 4)

• Metabolic Failure How Excess Calcium Causes Weight Gain, Thyroid and Adrenal Malfunctions and Five Types of Hypothyroidism (chapter 5)

• Women’s Issues: Pregnancy, Childbirth and Menopause (chapter 6)

Stress plays a key role in our heath. Thompson and Barnes address this issue and its relationship to Calcium (chapter 8). They emphasize that “stress management must be a regular part of a healthy life style.” (p. 176)

In chapter 9, The Road Back to Health they give their readers the following steps:

1. Drink pure water.

2. Take ionic sea salt – derived supplements.

3. Whole food vitamins.

4. Essential Fatty Acids

5. Eat raw nuts and/or seeds daily.

6. Eat high quality protein.

7. Get essential monosaccharides. (p. 184-195)

The Calcium Lie II closes with chapter 10, “Doctor to Doctor: An Impassioned Plea.” He encourages his readers to copy this chapter and take to their doctors or better yet to purchase a copy of the book for their doctors.

Dr. Thompson and Kathleen Barnes present the facts behind their claims. Reading and following their guidance will improve our health.

Source by Maggie Dail