bananas are a good source of magnesium :)
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bananas are a good source of magnesium :)
Oooh thanks rianaelf :)
You are welcome!
Alfalfa is a really excellent source of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. The sprouted seeds are the best fro amino acids and the leaves for minerals. Both have lots of vitamins. You can get the powdered leaf and add a teaspoon per person in soyamilkshakes with banana and anythink else you feel like putting in :)
Uh...tofu? It's easy to mix into things in small amounts if your kids don't like it. White beans are good, too. Oh, and the amounts of calcium required for children listed previously is incorrect...at least according to American sources. Perhaps they have different recommendations in the UK.
Ages 1-3: 500 mg calcium
Ages 4-8: 800 mg calcium
Ages 9-13: 1300 mg calcium
This is according to the new 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Academy of Pediatrics concurs with this.
And, yes, typically children (particularly young ones) need to try things about 8-15 times before they like it.
[ Oh, and the amounts of calcium required for children listed previously is incorrect...at least according to American sources. Perhaps they have different recommendations in the UK.]
The amounts previously listed were correct in accordance with British Government Guidelines.
I would be wary of giving healthy people calcium supplements as an excess of calcium can lead to kidney stones and bone problems.
A balanced and well informed vegan diet should provide sufficient quantities of calcium.
right now, xylia's still fairly young (16.5 months), and not eating loads...
but, each day she gets either a bowl of alpro plain yoghurt with sprouted flax (the current box is has blueberry bits in it) or porridge made with alpro soy milk (i get the fridge kind, as i can't stand the uht kind).
we make our own soymilk for baking, and as soon as we find a good calcium supplement to add to it (haven't started looking yet...), we'll use that in her porridge.
she eats a fair bit of tofu, too.
we use tahini a lot, too, which has a fair bit of calcium in it. found in things like hummus, which she adores.
she adores raw brocolli (but doesn't go near it steamed....).
she eats whatever we're eating otherwise. i think we eat a reasonably balanced diet, and she's doing well, so i'm happy.
i would like to find a vitamin for her, but i'm thinking i'll wait until she's two.
In baking and cooking soya flour and chick pea (Gram) flour can be added.Quote:
moonshadow
These are naturally high in calcium.
They do not have the risks associated with artificial calcium supplements!
Also do not allow growing children to become hooked on fizzy drinks and caffienated drinks as they leach calcium from the bones.
Here's something I just came across:
Calcium Supplements Fail To Prevent Bone Fractures In Children
Quote:
Science Daily — Calcium supplements have very little benefit for preventing fractures in childhood and later adulthood, concludes a study in the British Medical Journal
Children taking such supplements are have only small improvements in bone density, which are unlikely to reduce fracture risk, says the study carried out by researchers at the Menzies Research Institute in Australia and other approaches could be more beneficial such as increasing vitamin D concentrations and eating more fruit and vegetables.
Osteoporosis is a major public health problem, particularly in women, and low bone mineral density is an important risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. Bone density worsens for women after the menopause, so intervention in childhood to maximise peak bone mass by improving factors such as diet and physical activity can minimise the impact of bone loss related to age.
The researchers analysed the findings of 19 different studies involving 2,859 children collectively aged between three and 18. They included randomised trials of calcium supplementation in healthy children that lasted at least three months and which measured bone outcomes after at least six months of follow-up.
They found there was a small effect on total body bone mineral content and upper limb bone mineral density -- children taking the supplements only had 1.7% better bone density in their upper limbs than children not taking the supplements.
However, there was no effect at important sites in the body for fracture in later life -- namely the hip and lumbar spine. After children stopped taking calcium supplements, the effect persisted at the upper limb, but disappeared for total body bone mineral content.
The authors conclude: "The small effect of calcium supplementation on bone mineral density in the upper limb is unlikely to reduce the risk of fracture, either in childhood or later life, to a degree of major public health importance. It may be appropriate to explore alternative nutritional interventions, such as increasing vitamin D concentrations and intake of fruit and vegetables."
I like the last sentence! I've never heard of a calcium study that suggests fruits and vegetables, they always seem to push milk and yoghurt.
absolutely Yoggy! The 'recommendations' are in place in insure daily dairy consumption! levels have gone up many fold over the years without any scientific basis (Korn above).
Check out what the UN says... people are living well with a fraction of the calcium we in the West consume... plant based calcium I might add.
Where does all the excess calcium go? I passed a Kidney stone once and can tell you all that is one place you don't want to collect calcium!
There's a good book called Calciyum that is vegan and has high-calcium recipes.