Limestone from the Exotic Far East

Got this as part of a spam offering the other day that inspired a Spock-like single-eyebrow rising (or would, if I could do that): “100% Pure Okinawan Coral Calcium as low as $39.31.” Per what unit? Anyway, I guess I’m just not up to snuff on modern-day quack nostrums – I mean the burgeoning nutritional supplement industry – since this is something I’ve never heard of.

This from QuackWatch.org: “Robert R. Barefoot, of Wickenberg, Arizona, would like you to believe that limestone obtained from Okinawa provides ‘the scientific secret of health and youth’ and can cure cancer. His ideas have been promoted through books, lectures, his Web site, an audiotape, two 30-minute infomercials, interviews, and thousands of Web sites that sell ‘coral calcium’ products…. In 2002, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission stopped the broadcasting of his infomercials but coral calcium products are still widely marketed.”

Wow. I suppose I should burn with righteous indignation on learning of this ludicrous cottage industry, but I don’t. I just marvel at human creativity when it comes to picking people’s pockets, and making them glad they’ve been picked.