Often, the diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia comes as a shock. “How could it happen to me?” people often wonder. After all, you “eat right” and you’re active. The doctor’s first solution is often medications, but after looking at the side effects, you don’t want to risk it, so you started looking for non-pharmaceutical alternatives. One of the solutions in your search was a supplement called “AlgaeCal.” So here you are reading this article.
Original source: here.
I’ll aim to make this the most comprehensive article you’re ever going to read about it, presented in a (hopefully) entertaining way.
In this article, we’ll cover:
- AlgaeCal ingredients
- Does AlgaeCal really work? By how much does AlgaeCal increase bone density?
- How long does AlgaeCal take to work?
- What are the side effects of taking AlgaeCal? Does AlgaeCal cause heart problems?
- Who shouldn’t take AlgaeCal?
- What is an alternative to AlgaeCal?
But first, you might be wondering who I am to even be writing about this. I’m Igor. Nice to meet ya! I’m the author of the Amazon bestselling book, Osteoporosis Reversal Secrets: Workouts, Diet and Supplements for Stronger Bones Without Medications, as well as the owner of an online personal fitness training company that specializes in osteoporosis.
I’ve been a personal trainer since 2006, have my bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, and have delivered nearly 450 presentations to some of Canada’s largest corporations, like IBM, American Express, RBC, Qualcomm, Allstate Insurance and others. Additionally, I’m a regular speaker at personal training conference, training other personal trainers in my methodology.
With that out of the way, let’s get started.
What is AlgaeCal: The AlgaeCal Ingredients
First, let’s answer the basic question of “what is AlgaeCal?” Simply put, it’s calcium, derived from a plant-based source (marine algae). Traditional calcium supplements (like calcium carbonate and calcium citrate) are derived from limestone.
It’s actually a brand name for a supplement that contains different minerals.
The basic AlgaeCal formula contains:
- AlgaeCal: 750 mg
- Magnesium: 65 mg
- Vitamin D3: 1,000 IU
- Trace amounts of potassium, boron, copper, manganese, silicon, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc. “Trace amounts” means that they’re all too low by themselves to have any effect.
There’s a more advanced supplement called “AlgaeCal Plus.” Its ingredients are:
- AlgaeCal: 750 mg
- Magnesium: 350 mg
- Vitamin D3: 1,600 IU
- Vitamin K2: 100 mcg
- Boron: 3.0 mcg
- Vitamin C: 50 mg
- Trace amounts of potassium, copper, manganese, silicon, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc. “Trace amounts” means that they’re all too low by themselves to have any effect.
Does AlgaeCal Really Work? By How Much Does AlgaeCal Increase Bone Density?
In the previous section, you saw that AlgaeCal is both a supplement (containing multiple ingredients), as well as a standalone ingredient.
So we have to differentiate between the effects of the ingredient and the effects of the supplement.
Let’s start with the ingredient AlgaeCal. The answer to whether this standalone ingredient works by itself (without the other accompanying minerals in the formula) is unknown. There isn’t a single human study to answer that question.
As for the full supplement, AlgaeCal, there is indeed some human research on it.
In one study, 158 people were divided into 2 groups:
- Group 1: received AlgaeCal
- Group 2: received AlgaeCal Plus
After 6 months:
- Group 1 increased their bone density by 0.48%.
- Group 2 increased their bone density by 2.18%.
Another study showed that AlgaeCal supplementation (not even AlgaeCal Plus) lead to a bone density increase of 1.04% per year, for 7 years.
Both of these studies combined make it look impressive, don’t they? On the surface, yes. But if we dig deeper, we see 2 problems:
- Almost all of the research on AlgaeCal is industry funded. So there are clear conflicts of interest. To give credit to the researchers, however, they did disclose their conflict of interest. A conflict of interest doesn’t immediately invalidate the results, but it does make us more skeptical of them. There’s almost no independent research on AlgaeCal.
- As mentioned earlier, we need to separate the effects of AlgaeCal the ingredient and AlgaeCal the supplement. We know that ingredients like vitamin D and vitamin K improve bone density by themselves, without any calcium. How much of the effect on bone density is due to the AlgaeCal and how much of it is due to the inclusion of other vitamins and minerals? I’d venture to say that very little of the effect comes from AlgaeCal the ingredient. One meta-analysis found that vitamin K2 supplementation alone (with no other vitamins/minerals) improved the bone density at the lower back by 27% on average. Another meta-analysis found that vitamin K2 improved bone density by anywhere from 1.40-3.98%. These numbers are comparable to AlgaeCal the supplement in its entirety. I’d venture to say that you can likely get the same benefits from AlgaeCal supplement if you took out the AlgaeCal ingredient, and kept everything else.
Notice something sneaky that the manufacturers of AlgaeCal did: they named the entire supplement “AlgaeCal” (or “AlgaeCal Plus”), but snuck in a bunch of other nutrients that by themselves are proven to improve bone density. Why would they do that? Maybe it’s because they’re not confident that AlgaeCal the ingredient has any effect by itself.
So to answer the question of “does AlgaeCal really work?” the answer is “yes”, but not because of the AlgaeCal ingredient. In all likelihood, it works because of the other ingredients in there, and you could get the same result just buying an isolated vitamin K2 or a K2/D3 mix.
In my opinion, as it stands right now, it looks like AlgaeCal is a lot of marketing hype, with very little good science to back it up. The marketing goes “regular calcium supplements come from rock, but our calcium comes from plants. Therefore it’s better.” This kind of message works particularly well, because a disproportionate number of people with osteoporosis are either on a plant-based, vegetarian or vegan diet, so they gravitate towards that kind of marketing. Too bad the science doesn’t back it up.
How Long Does AlgaeCal Take to Work?
Generally speaking, bone density tests are not done any more frequently than once a year. In research settings, they could be done as soon as 6 months, but if it works sooner than that, we wouldn’t know.
In general, the longer you take something, the better it works.
What Are the Side Effects of Taking AlgaeCal? Does AlgaeCal cause heart problems?
With so little research on AlgaeCal, and of the little research that exists being funded by the industry, there’s no great research on the potential side effects of AlgaeCal.
We do know that regular calcium supplements (like calcium carbonate and calcium citrate) are linked to both heart problems and kidney damage. Is the same true for AlgaeCal? Again, that’s unknown, but regular calcium supplements is all that we have to go on, until long-term, independent research is done on isolated AlgaeCal as an ingredient.
Who Shouldn’t Take AlgaeCal?
As it stands right now, given the lack of good studies showing effectiveness, and also the lack of good, long-term studies showing safety, I’d say that no one should take AlgaeCal. There are other much better-studied, more potent, safer supplements out there for osteoporosis reversal, which I talk about in my book.
I know that their marketing machine is powerful, and there’s a lot of temptation to believe it, but I urge you to do 2 things:
- Follow the science.
- Follow the money.
What is An Alternative to AlgaeCal?
Two of the best alternatives to AlgaeCal are actually included right in the AlgaeCal formula: vitamins K2 and D3. There are, however, 3 other effective supplements that can increase your bone density. I talk about them in my book. In fact, one supplement that I talk about in my book improves bone density even better than both vitamins D and K. If you’d like to get the book, click here.
