The New England Journal of Medicine recently published a podcast from a researcher who is telling us not to take calcium supplements. OMG! I mean, I thought that was the one thing we knew for sure was good for us. But then, there are factions saying we shouldn’t use sunscreen. Again, OMG! Is there nothing we can count on?

Calcium supplements are bad for you. The argument is they do not help and they can increase your risk for kidney stones. This is not surprising, when you consider there has always been a very vocal contingent of doctors saying you shouldn’t take any nutritional supplements at all, that you should be able to get everything you need through food.

Well, food gets its nutrients from the soil. But we have so overused the fields, they no longer have the nutrients they once did. You can fertilize all you want, but Nature knows the difference. No one seems to address that, but it is true. For myself, even if the soil did have all the nutrients, I just don’t eat enough to get all I need, and I am not alone in that.

Now, it is true that almost all advances, especially in medicine, are initially greeted by scorn. The medical community didn’t believe in germs for a very long time after studies showed they existed. So, it’s hard to say dissenters are wrong. So, what do you do? First you read an old book by Paavo Airola called Are You Confused?, which is as relevant now as it was when it first came out in 1971.  And then … well, there isn’t really an answer. Choose a doctor you really trust and go by what she says.

And most important, pay attention to your body! It will give you a lot of signals, if you pay attention.