Tums Is a Good Source of Calcium, Right? Definitely Not! Here’s Why…

Warning, I’m going to go on a bit of a rant today.

You see, I posted on Instagram about how sometimes you just need a reboot. Whether it’s lack of sleep, not eating right, or just not fitting into your swimsuit the way you want to, a reboot might be just the thing.

And one of my favorite ways to cleanse, detoxify, and reboot your body is by supplementing every day with alkaline mineral salts, specifically Alkamind Daily Minerals.

(This seems harmless, right? Don’t worry, the rant is coming.)

Well a commentor said, and I’m paraphrasing here, Isn’t this basically Tums? Tums is calcium and this just has a few other minerals thrown in along with it, right?

Short answer: No! Absolutely not! It’s nothing like Tums!

I’m not criticizing the commentor. In fact, we had a great dialogue and it turns out she uses Daily Minerals and it really helps her acid reflux!

My rant is against the makers of Tums and similar products that are doing harm to so many people’s health.

Whether you take Tums or other calcium supplements for acid reflux, which it’s effective at masking the symptoms of, while actually making the problem worse, or to get more calcium in your diet, you need to know this information.

What’s Wrong with Most Calcium Supplements

Tums and other commonly used calcium supplements contain calcium carbonate, the cheapest and single worst form of calcium. This is not to be confused with other types of calcium.

Not all calcium is created equal!

The biggest problem with calcium carbonate is that it’s not bioavailable, so much so that 25% of the American population can't even absorb it. Even among those who can, only somewhere between 5 and 30% of the actual supplement gets absorbed into the body.

Here’s what the makers of Tums don’t want you to know – calcium carbonate is predominantly made by finely grinding limestone rock.

So if you take Tums, you’re eating expensive rocks!

To make matters worse, they cover up the taste of rock with these terrible ingredients:

• Adipic acid – A synthetic (read: not food) additive included for flavor and texture.
• Com starch – All corn products are acidic and should be avoided.
• FD&C blue #1 lake, FD&C red#40 lake, FD&C yellow #5 (tatffazine) lake, FD&C yellow #6 lake – All this means is artificial food coloring. These are toxic!
• Flavors – What does this even mean? It’s not clear at all, and I wouldn’t trust it based on what they do list.
• Mineral oil – This is a petroleum byproduct. It’s not safe ON your body, much less IN your body!
• Sodium polyphosphate – This is a food emulsifier. It’s not as good as sodium bicarbonate, so don’t let the “sodium” fool you.
• Sucrose – This is a simple sugar, it’s acidic, and it shouldn’t be anywhere near your health supplements!
• Talc – Yes, the same powder used on men’s necks after a shave or haircut is added to some foods. Your body can’t absorb it at all – gross! Recent studies have associated talc to certain forms of cancer.

However, that’s not the worst part of your standard calcium supplement.

Is Tums Putting Your Heart at Risk?

You might have heard that there’s an increased risk of heart attack from taking the wrong calcium supplement. And it’s true, a 20-30% increased risk was confirmed by research at Dartmouth University.

The reason for this increased risk is simple. Your body needs a very precise balance of minerals. If calcium drops too low or goes too high, you have a heart attack. And if magnesium, which is necessary for calcium absorption, drops too low or goes too high, you have a heart attack.

Taking Tums or cheap calcium supplements is actually dangerous to your health.

That’s why it’s absolutely essential that calcium and magnesium should ALWAYS be in a 1:1 ratio (as it is in Daily Minerals), so you can properly absorb the calcium. Tums’ ratio of calcium to magnesium is 42:1.

One more note on this… Don’t worry about your food-based calcium and magnesium levels. You can’t eat too much of these minerals. Your body knows what to do with any excess, but too little is more commonly a problem than too much.

What’s the alternative?

So if Tums will do nothing but make your body toxic and acidic, what are you supposed to do if you want to take something to help with acid reflux and/or a calcium supplement? And do you even need a calcium supplement?

Unfortunately, the answer is yes. Up above I mentioned that most people get too little minerals from their diets, not too much. The reason for that is depleted soil levels.

Our food just doesn’t have the vitamins and minerals it once did. It takes nearly 60 servings of spinach today to equal one serving back in 1948 when the soil was much better. Broccoli has lost over 50% of its nutrient content over the last 21 years. So what’s the takeaway? Even when you are trying to get all of your nutrients and minerals via a healthy, plant-based diet, it’s nearly impossible.

Additionally, most people are so acidic, their bodies are draining the calcium and magnesium to neutralize all that acid.

That’s right – the body will actually ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’, or steal calcium from your bones, and magnesium from your muscles, in an effort to balance your blood pH at 7.4 so you don’t die!

So what are you supposed to do to get a good source of calcium and other minerals?

[How to Prevent Osteoporosis and Why Milk Is NOT One of the 10 Best Sources of Calcium]

This is exactly why I created Alkamind Daily Minerals in the first place. It’s the right mix of the right minerals.

Instead of calcium carbonate, it uses calcium citrate, the most bioavailable form of calcium. And not made from limestone rocks, by the way!

This is supported by magnesium glycinate, the most bioavailable form of magnesium, and these two crucial alkaline minerals live in a 1:1 ratio, the way that it should be so that you can absorb all the calcium in the supplement.

Next, it has potassium bicarbonate, one of the most powerful buffers of acid, and sodium bicarbonate, another powerful buffer of acid. This is not the sodium that most people think about when they hear the word sodium, which is table salt, or sodium chloride. Sodium bicarbonate is only 28% sodium and is crucial to help your body produce bicarbonate, which ensures blood maintains its critical and delicate pH of 7.4.

Alkamind Daily Minerals is a game changer in your energy, your weight, your sleep, and your mental acuity. And unlike Tums, it will really help that acid reflux!