Want Calcium But Don’t Like Dairy? Try These 5 Foods
Many foods are excellent sources of calcium. If you’re not taking supplements or consuming dairy, you may not be getting enough calcium in your diet. The following foods have been identified by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development as being high in calcium:
- Calcium-fortified beverages. Nut and seed milks and soymilk are good choices. Read the labels to see how much calcium is in each serving, and how big the serving size is, to determine how much one serving will contribute to your total daily percentage of calcium. Look for products containing calcium citrate and malate, which may be better absorbed than tricalcium phosphate and calcium lactate. An eight-oz serving may contain anywhere from 8 to 50 percent of your Daily Value (DV), depending on the brand. Make sure to opt for unsweetened versions as to not also add extra sugar with your calcium.
- Cooked greens. Turnip greens, kale, and spinach are just a few examples of natural sources of calcium from the greens family. A half-cup of cooked spinach contains about 12 percent of your DV of calcium, one cup of cooked kale has 9 percent, and a half-cup of boiled turnip greens offers 10 percent.
- Canned salmon with bones. The bones of this fish are softened in the canning process, making them edible—and an excellent source of calcium. You’ll get a whopping 18 percent of your DV of calcium from three ounces of canned salmon (including bones). Choose canned salmon from wild-caught sources (not farmed).
- Broccoli. When eaten raw, you’ll get two percent of your DV of calcium from a half-cup of this versatile vegetable.
- Tofu. Read the package label to make sure calcium was used in its preparation. If so, a half-cup of firm tofu typically contains 20 percent of your DV, while the same amount of soft tofu provides 14 percent.
You may want to consider adding a balanced calcium-magnesium supplement to fill in any dietary gaps.
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