The Calcium Lie: What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know Could Kill You
by Robert Thompson, M.D., and Kathleen Barnes
(InTruth Press, 2008, soft-cover, $19.95. See www.calciumlie.com for more.)

From an early age, we’re encouraged to drink plenty of calcium-rich milk to build strong bones. And once we hit 40, we need to take calcium supplements to prevent osteoporosis. We do this because we’ve been taught that our bones are made of calcium. Right? Wrong! This is what medical doctor and Alaskan author Robert Thompson calls the calcium lie. And he can prove it. How? By reminding us of some very basic biochemistry: that bones are made not only of calcium, but of a dozen minerals (including calcium) that need to work in balance for our optimum health.

As Thompson writes, “Expecting to keep bones strong by giving someone calcium supplements is like expecting that you can make a loaf of bread from yeast alone. It simply won’t work and, in the case of calcium supplements, it can do great harm as crystallized excess calcium concretions make their way into arteries and joints and force the adrenals to compensate for calcium excess to their own detriment.”

Indeed, when it comes to America’s obsession with calcium, we need to switch gears and realize that more is not always better. In fact, many of us who think we need calcium supplements are actually already overloaded with calcium, thus causing what Thompson terms the “calcium cascade”, a domino-like effect of nutritional depletion that leads to some terrible body woes—including heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, migraines and more. What we need is not more calcium, but a better balance of minerals in our minerally-bankrupt bodies.

In this very easy to understand and helpful book, Thompson shares how he, too, bought into the calcium lie. As an obstetrician, gynecologist and reproductive surgeon in Soldotna and Anchorage, Thompson began researching the supplements and vitamins his patients were taking. This led him to herbs, homeopathy, and the importance of treating causes rather than just symptoms. And this, in turn, led to his discovery of the calcium lie.

Thompson also tells us what we can do to help the problem; namely, adding sea salt and organic foods (especially veggies) to our diet; getting a tissue mineral analysis for an exact picture of mineral levels in our body; along with the usual sane encouragement to drink plenty of healthy water and get some exercise. I highly recommend this book to anyone currently taking calcium supplements. It’s well-written, easy to follow, and offers a wealth of insights into how you can take charge of your body’s health once again.

~ Review by Keila Swan

Believe (DVD)
Written and directed by Loki Mulholland.
(Kaleidoscope Pictures, 2008, $19.99; see www.believethemovie.com for more.)  

Winner of several audience choice awards, this independent film is a sly, clever and hilarious mockumentary about the ‘believers’ involved in multilevel marketing (MLM) schemes. What’s an MLM? It’s your basic get-rich pyramid scheme (or, in the parlance of those involved in one, a “business opportunity”) in which those who sell products make money for their upline sponsor—the slightly smarmy individual who initiated them into the network of sellers (“believers”) to begin with.

The film is clearly a satiric spoof on MLMs, yet for those involved in one, I imagine it may bite pretty close to home. As Mulholland says in the Special Features of this film, “I was that guy,” referring to the annoying character named Mark Fuller (played perfectly by Lincoln Hoppe) who never misses an opportunity to pass out a business card and rope you into a belabored conversation that inevitably begins, “Are you happy with your current level of income?”

Mulholland based the script on his three years within a well-known MLM company. He writes, “The inner worlds of MLM companies are so surreal and filled with so many unique characters desperately seeking acceptance and success that it made for a perfect mockumentary subject.” Right you are, Loki!

The basic story follows Adam Pendon (Larry Bagby), in some ways the hero of this film, who falls into luck when he half-heartedly sponsors a meeting for Fuller, and all his buddies at the steel mill (which just closed) join up. This launches Adam into the high ranks of a ‘true believer’, causing distress and envy among the other believers at the motivational meetings. Mulholland clearly has some good-natured fun with this film, including cameos by motivational speaker Troy Dunn and a song by Graham Russell of Air Supply.

As Mullholland notes, not all MLMs are scams. Still, there are enough red flags within the MLM industry to caution people to be very careful when joining one. Recommendations? Check out Mulholland’s site (www.believethemovie.com), especially the blog page for “Tips for joining an MLM company” (which also includes reviews of various MLMs). Secondly, watch the film! Whether you are involved in an MLM or not, this is a very funny heads-up about ‘the business opportunity of a lifetime’!

~Keila Swan

Good Grief: Healing through the Shadow of Loss
By Deborah Morris Coryell
(Healing Arts Press, 2007, soft-cover with 60-minute CD,  $18.95.)  

This book came to me at a time when I was grieving the loss of a beloved animal. Everything Deborah Morris Coryell writes about loss in her book can and does apply to animals as well as human beings. She gives readers a deep and compassionate look at how different people suffer in varying ways after experiencing the death of a loved one. But, she allows us to draw our own conclusions by filling us with simple facts that make death feel like a natural part of the rhythms of life.

Coryell explains how to move on from loss and how it requires us to grow. In order to heal the deep pain that grief brings us after the death of a loved one, Coryell asks us to learn how to love again, even in the face of the loss. In other words, she asks us not to allow the loss to rule us completely. She explains how healing brings us closer to our most profound relationships with other people during the grieving process. She asks us to pay attention to how we experience the smaller losses in life, too, so that we can be more attentive when the greater ones come our way.

The book is small, but every word is well-chosen, thoughtful and filled with wisdom. The additional CD really impacts listeners because Deborah reads her book with deep compassion, sincerity and emotional commitment to the subject of grieving. One gets the sense that Deborah really does know, at a very profound level, of the pain we suffer when we must say goodbye to someone we love.