Vegans and calcium

[Seaside]

Posted by Evilfluffbunny:

Oh, I didn't know that - thanks. Perhaps it would be better to liquidize apples, oranges etc, but juice things like celery and so on. It's never straight forward is it?

Nope! I juice apples, grapes, and other crisp items, but make mangos, bananas, and pulpy fruits into smoothies. I like to liquidize (blend) entire lemons, though, as long as they are organic. I think whole grapefruits can be liquidized, but not oranges. Shave the orange part of the peel off, since the oil in the orange peel is not good for you, leaving as much of the white part of the peel as you can, and then liquidize. There are very important nutrients in the white, pulpy parts of citrus peels, but they are very unpleasant to eat (at least they are to me!).

[Tigerlily]

Oh no, the oils in orange peels not good? I like eating orange peelings..

[Seaside]

Posted by Tigerlily:

Oh no, the oils in orange peels not good? I like eating orange peelings..

One of my juicing books says not to include the orange part of the peel in juice. It didn't go into great detail about why. But when I make orange juice, I usually use three or four valencia oranges, depending upon their size, and that much peel might not be good. If you like to nibble in moderation, I'm sure its ok. Lots of recipes for desserts call for a tablespoon or so of grated orange peels, so they can't be too bad.

[assilembob]

Posted by Tigerlily:


One of my juicing books says not to include the orange part of the peel in juice. It didn't go into great detail about why. But when I make orange juice, I usually use three or four valencia oranges, depending upon their size, and that much peel might not be good. If you like to nibble in moderation, I'm sure its ok. Lots of recipes for desserts call for a tablespoon or so of grated orange peels, so they can't be too bad.

My book says that it makes the juice very bitter...

[Mystic]

Last week I had a bone density scan - something I avoided for the three years that I was emaciated with anorexia. I was so frightened that coz I don't eat dairy, and that I was so painfully thin, that I would have brittle bones. BUT - as a recovered anorexic, and a vegan, my bone density for my spine was 100% and for my hips....120%!!!!!!!!!!! YAY for veganism F**K dairy - we totally don't need it

[kriz]

Wow, Banana, that's great! Do you eat a lot of "dark greens" (spinach, kale, broccoli etc.) then?

[Seaside]

That's good news Banana! And now you can stop feeling guilty about those dates: for every 100g of dates you eat, you are getting 32 mg of calcium and 35mg of magnesium!

[Peas'nHominy]

Banana, that's GREAT!!

How do you feel? ...One of my sisters has this battle, too. If her weight drops too low, her muscles ache all over.

[FR]

A vegan should never worry about getting enough calcium. A well balanced vegan diet provides all the calcium one will ever need.

Congratulations, Banana.

[Mystic]

Thanks everyone! I am VERY excited! I was extremely worried for a while that I would have to resort to so called "Happy Cow" Dairy (if there is such thing).

[QUOTE: Kriz]
Wow, Banana, that's great! Do you eat a lot of "dark greens" (spinach, kale, broccoli etc.) then? [/QUOTE]

No, actually I don't really. I eat broccoli a couple of times a week, but that is about all. I eat lots of salad type vegetables coz I don't really cook much - I have a "heat and eat" type meal, or something easy like pasta with salad on the side coz I am too lazy to cook. I do love Asian greens like Bok Choy and stuff, but I am too lazy to make a stir fry. I rely on supplements (and I have also been taking dolomite powder in my oatmeal lately) and I eat a lot of figs and dates. I don't really like tahini much, and I can't have almonds and I am not a dairy-substitute fan, so I don't eat a lot of dietary calcium. I take a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to help the tablet dissolve.

[QUOTE: Peas'nHominy] How do you feel? ...One of my sisters has this battle, too. If her weight drops too low, her muscles ache all over. [/QUOTE]

I feel great now! I eat well and I am fine! I have hypoglycemia as a result of the anorexia, but as long as I eat well, I can somewhat control it. I used to be badly anaemic, so I take an iron tablet too. I hope your sister is doing well. It is a horrible and depressing way to live. My heart goes out to her.

[QUOTE: Seaside] That's good news Banana! And now you can stop feeling guilty about those dates: for every 100g of dates you eat, you are getting 32 mg of calcium and 35mg of magnesium! [/QUOTE]

Oh I don't feel guilty at all! In fact, just after lunch today I scoffed four massive gooey medjool dates and wished I had more to scoff I went to the doctor once about my date addiction and he was delighted! He described them as a superfood and said at least I was satisfying my sweet tooth with dates and not chocolate! Give me dates over chocolate ANY day

Tails go and get that scan - you might be pleasantly surprised, just like me

[piggy]

One of my housemates was telling me the other day that I need to drink milk for it's high calcium content, to avoid osteoporosis later and brittle nails now.

Just two days later the same person told me not to drink tap water, because it contained too much calcium and might cause kidney stones.

Which made me think, is there any difference between the calcium in (tap) water and the calcium present in foodstuff?

[foxytina_69]

i get so much calcium from my diet everyday!

[grant]

From "The Juice Lady's Guide to Juicing for Health" by Cherie Calbom:

"Plants incorporate minerals, which occur in inorganic forms in the soil, into their tissues. As a part of this process, the minerals are combined with organic molecules into easily absorbable forms, which makes plant food an excellent dietary source of mineral. Juicing is believed to provide even better mineral absorption than whole fruits and vegetables because the process of juicing liberates minerals into a highly absorbable form."

Best juice sources of calcium:
kale
parsley
dandelion greens
watercress
beet greens
broccoli
spinach
romaine lettuce
string beans
oranges
celery
carrots

I've heard juicing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sorry, more conflict, more contradictions!! Why not blend some greens with some fruit and make a green smoothie?

500 grams dandelions - 935mg Calcium!!

I dont know whether it is advisable to eat 500grams at one time though, they may have some 'medicinal' substances found in them that have negative effects, you'll have to read up and see.

[coconut]

Has anyone been on Vegsource.com and had a look at their Healthy Lifestyle Expo lectures from 2003? You can stream them through Media Player free and they're fascinating. One of the speakers (Dr. McDougall) talks about calcium for a while. He thinks its definately not a good idea to consume too much of it, for instance, by taking a calcium pill. Apparently your gut wall just blocks it (thereby saving your life ) and it is excreted out of your system as quickly as possible. Only minute amounts of calcium can be absorbed by the gut so I think he's saying you should just get it through your food.

[Tigerlily]

Has anyone been on Vegsource.com and had a look at their Healthy Lifestyle Expo lectures from 2003? You can stream them through Media Player free and they're fascinating. One of the speakers (Dr. McDougall) talks about calcium for a while. He thinks its definately not a good idea to consume too much of it, for instance, by taking a calcium pill. Apparently your gut wall just blocks it (thereby saving your life ) and it is excreted out of your system as quickly as possible. Only minute amounts of calcium can be absorbed by the gut so I think he's saying you should just get it through your food.

My multivitamin doesn't contain any calcium, I wonder if it's for that reason? I just try to get my calcium from seasme seeds, greens, and soy milk. Mmmmm chocolate soy milk, I could drink a 2L carton every day!

[coconut]

Mmmmm chocolate soy milk, I could drink a 2L carton every day!

Well if you have no financial commitments... How do you think all those vegan celebs get their calcium?

[Korn]

Hi, here are some interesting articles about calcium for vegans:

Diet and Bone Health (Stephen Walsh, PhD)

Dairy-free calcium (by Bonnie Kumer, R.D. and Nicole Hambleton)

Calcium in the Vegan Diet (by Reed Mangels, Ph.D., R.D.)

Calcium rich plant foods (from dentalgentlecare.com)

[j&k]

Since there is all this talk of calcium, I would like to point out for those of you who have not been following recent studies that it is MORE important for bone health to ensure adequate levels of vitamin D then calcium (although both are important. In fact, too high of a calcium intake in relation to Vitamin D can block absorption of Vitamin D, and can increase cancer risk as a result of lower blood levels of Vitamin D. A good ration is 800iu-1200iu vitamin D to 500 mg of calcium. Of course, calcium from food is better at building bone as well than is calcium from synthetic supplemental sources. Vitamin D2 is usually vegan, whereas D3 is not vegan.

Here is an excerpt from the National Osteoporosis Foundation dated June 5, 2006:

Calcium's bone strengthening benefits don't accrue in isolation--vitamin D also promotes healthy bone mass by enhancing calcium absorption. Now, researchers from Belgium and the Netherlands report that high dose vitamin D supplements taken for osteoporosis prevention and treatment need sufficient calcium to be effective (conference abstract OC21).
The discovery builds on findings by Heike Bischoff-Ferrari from the Geneva University Hospital in Switzerland, who showed previously that supplemental vitamin D at doses of 800 international units or more protects against bone fractures. The Bischoff-Ferrari, et al. study was unable to assess the role of calcium in that protection, however.
Dr. Steven Boonen of the Leuven University Center for Metabolic Bone Diseases, in Belgium, and colleagues from Brussels University and Amsterdam University in the Netherlands, followed up with a broad literature search addressing the role of both calcium and vitamin D protection against hip fracture risk. The investigation showed that even at 800 international units per day, vitamin D could not protect against hip fracture in the absence of additional calcium. "Our meta-analysis shows there are two requirements for vitamin D to be effective," Boonen said. "First, you need the appropriate dose of vitamin D, as indicated by Ferrari, et al., and second you have to combine that dose with calcium."
Not Enough Vitamin D
In a different study, Dr. Olivier Bruyere of the University of Liege, Belgium, and his colleagues showed that most post-menopausal women living in Europe may be deficient in vitamin D, putting them at elevated risk of bone loss and fractures (conference abstract P142SA). Experts suggest the body needs at least 50 to 80 nanamoles per liter of vitamin D in blood serum for optimal bone health.
Bruyere and his colleagues analyzed vitamin D levels in 8,532 European postmenopausal women. Among the women, nearly 80% had circulating vitamin D levels below the high end of the acceptable range. Roughly one third of the women had levels lower than 50 nanamoles per liter, suggesting they have a serious risk of osteoporotic fractures.
Bruyere said the findings were consistent regardless of whether the women lived in sun-drenched countries or not. This is remarkable because vitamin D is produced in the skin by a reaction that requires sunlight. "That's one of the interesting outcomes of our study,"
Bruyere says. "We tested women from France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Spain, the UK, and Germany but the findings were independent of latitude. So, based on that, we could hypothesize that vitamin D levels might be low all over the world."
The researchers observed identical levels of vitamin D deficiency in women aged lower than 70. Bruyere suggests these complimentary findings indicate that age has little bearing on the degree of deficiency. "Even young post-menopausal women should take some form of vitamin D supplementation," he said. "Supplements should not be restricted just to the elderly."

Here are some other interesting studies:
LeBoff MS, Kohlmeier L, Hurwitz S, Franklin J, Wright J, Glowacki J. Occult vitamin D deficiency in postmenopausal US women with acute hip fracture. J Am Med Assoc 1999;251:1505-11.

Reid IR. Therapy of osteoporosis: Calcium, vitamin D, and exercise. Am J Med Sci 1996;312:278-86.

Chapuy MC, Pamphile R, Paris E, Kempf C, Schlichting M, Arnaud S, Garnere P, Meunier PJ. Combined calcium and vitamin D3 supplementation in elderly women: confirmation of reversal of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hip fracture risk: the Decalyos II study. Osteoporosis Int 2002;13:257-64.

[Haniska]

Does anyone here strive to meet or actually meet their calcium requirements without supplements (including fortified foods)?

I read somewhere that the Dutch as a people are taller because of high milk intake. I wonder if we all are taller now due to milk and need more calcium than plants can (reasonably and practically) give. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should drink milk or even that it is a "good" source of calcium. I'm just trying to think reasonably about the subject.

[thecatspajamas1]

I never take calcium supplements. And I don't have any deficiencies that I know of!

Here is a link that has a chart of the vegans foods with the highest calcium amounts: http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm#tofu They're all pretty common foods, so I don't see why we wouldn't be getting enough calcium unless we only ate junk foods. For example, a serving of calcium-set tofu gives 42% of your daily calcium needs.

[Rogue]

what about soy milk? is that a supplement? because it has like the same amount of calcium as regular milk

[Korn]

Does anyone here strive to meet or actually meet their calcium requirements without supplements (including fortified foods)?

Hi Haniska, according to my blood tests, I've got higher levels of calcium than the average population - the results exceed the calcium requirements. I have never taken calcium supplements or calcium fortified foods. There's a useful thread for you here....

[eve]

I used to take supplements some time ago - guess I was taken in by ads, but haven't taken supplements for some years now, and have no calcium deficiency, or any other deficiency!

[Haniska]

I do include fortified soy milk and calcium set tofu as a fortified food.
Korn, I assume you take some sort of milk replacement or eat calcium set tofu?
I see no difference between taking a tablet or drinking/eating something that essentially has a tablet ground up in it.

p.s. I am not saying that you have no deficency because you are in fact getting supplements w/o realizing it. It just seemed to me that I must have read a post about you drinking soy milk somewhere or another. If that is not the case, forgive me.

[Korn]

Korn, I assume you take some sort of milk replacement or eat calcium set tofu?

I never drink soy or rice milk, and haven't been eating cereals with plant milks for years, but we sometimes use relatively small amounts of non-fortified rice or soymilk when cooking, and normally eat tofu a few times a month. Whenever I buy rice- or soy milk (or orange juice etc), I buy the non-fortified version. In periods, I have been eating tofu only a few - or zero - times pr. year.

The amount of calcium in non-fortified tofu (does fortified tofu actually exist?) depends on the coagulating agent used when making it, and I don't know how the tofu we buy is made, and haven't started making home-made tofu yet. I can't help you with the calcium levels of the tofu I use right now, because I don't have some in any in the fridge...

Plants are a great source of calcium, but/and of course: like with all other food and all other nutrients, you have to eat the right stuff!

[Korn]

what about soy milk? is that a supplement? because it has like the same amount of calcium as regular milk

If you buy soya milk that is fortified with calcium, I'd consider the added calcium a supplement. If you make your own soya milk, or buy non-fortified soya milk, it's just food.

[Korn]

Calcium in the Vegan diet

...and here's a link to an article about calcium requirements from vegancociety.com.

[Tigerlily]

What does blackstrap molasses taste like and what can I use it for? I find myself having a hard time getting a lot of calcium, I noticed. Don't ask me why, I just don't seem to eat a lot of calcium rich foods. *shrugs*

[Tigerlily]

I never drink soy or rice milk, and haven't been eating cereals with plant milks for years, but we sometimes use relatively small amounts of non-fortified rice or soymilk when cooking, and normally eat non-fortified tofu a few times a month. Whenever I buy rice- or soy milk (or orange juice etc), I buy the non-fortified version. In periods, I have been eating tofu only a few - or zero - times pr. year.

The amount of calcium in non-fortified tofu (does fortified tofu actually exist?) depends on the coagulating agent used when making it, and I don't know how the tofu we buy is made, and haven't started making home-made tofu yet. I can't help you with the calcium levels of the tofu I use right now, because I don't have some in any in the fridge...

But why do you assume this? Plants are a great source of calcium, but/and of course: like with all other food and all other nutrients, you have to eat the right stuff!

Korn, you should post in the "what did you eat today" thread! I'm really curious to what you eat.

[twinkle]

Blackstrap molasses is quite strong, almost liquorice-y. I use about a tablespoon in the 'Happy vegan' chocolate chip cookie recipe on vegweb, to add depth of flavour. It's also good in things like rich dark fruitcake and gingerbread/cookies.

[Tigerlily]

Interesting. I'm too scared to buy it.

[Chocs4me]

I make scones using blackstrap mollasses instead of sugar.

I usually make some almond milk and then strain the almond milk through some muslin - i use the strained almonds and mix it with the molasses as the moistening agent instead of milk - so that way i am getting the calcium from the almonds and the blackstrap - i cant really taste the blackstrap in the finished scone and i put loads in!! They are very yummy!!

[Tigerlily]

Great.

[Korn]

Hi Tigerlily,

I eat varied food, with pretty good amounts of raw and non-processed food. I don't drink tea/coffee or take any medicine, avoid chemicals as much as possible, don't smoke, eat little sugar, eat almost no wheat, no white pasta, no white bread... just tasty vegan food inspired by recipes from all over the world. I smell of garlic.

Since I consume a relatively low amount if nutrient-killers, I probably get more nutrients out of the stuff I eat than if I would have a'normal' intake of things that are known to disturb the body or prohibit nutrient intake.

Both my girlfriend and I and improvise a lot when we make food, and occasionally write down a kind of loose recipe if we feel that we made something more-tasty-than-usual. I'll post something later if you are interested.

The thread you suggested is so busy, so maybe it's better to post one-off suggestions/ideas about meals in one of the other food threads...

[lozza]

I dont take supplements for calcium... I drink fortified soymilk and I eat tofu & dark greens often. I also read there's calcium in lentils as well as protein. So that killls 2 birds with one stone. (or humanely catches them)

[Haniska]

But why do you assume this? Plants are a great source of calcium, but/and of course: like with all other food and all other nutrients, you have to eat the right stuff!

Like I said, I wasn't saying that it was hard to believe due to your calcium balance. I just did assume (is there a better word for believing with no pretense?) for absolutely no reason. Calcium set tofu is not "fortified" but it is "calcium set" which adds calcium to it regardless.
I don't like when I look up how to get more calcium in my diet and they(the vegan website or book) recommend fortified foods. "No, need for a supplement! The vegan diet is complete in every way, make sure you drink fortified soymilk!"
I like to eat whole foods and would like to get all of my nutrients from them.
It makes me happy that you do this.

[Korn]

Hi,
here are some quotes from various sources about what happens if you have a too high intake of calcium supplements:

http://www.raysahelian.com/calcium.html

Calcium supplement side effects
The most common adverse effects of calcium supplements are constipation, intestinal bloating and excess gas. Adverse effects occur most frequently with calcium carbonate. Switching preparations or increasing fluid intake may relieve symptoms. Patients who form calcium-containing stones are generally advised not to take calcium supplements. It is possible that a very, very low intake of calcium can aggravate the risk of stone formation by increasing absorption and urinary excretion of oxalate. However, a very high intake of calcium through supplements could also increase the risk for kidney stones. Therefore, it is best not to exceed 600 mg a day of a calcium supplement. Calcium is best taken during meals.

http://courses.washington.edu/bonephys/opcalcium.html

Side effects

Side effects from a reasonable dose of calcium (1,000 mg/day) are very low. Some patients insist that calcium makes them constipated, although in blinded trials this complication is no more frequent than with placebo. A recent study by Prince found that higher doses of calcium supplements (1200mg/day in addition to 900mg/day from dietary sources) did cause constipation in 13% of subjects. Calcium citrate may help in these situations, as may increasing intake of fruit juices. Others complain of gastritis, which might be caused by taking calcium carbonate between meals, thus stimulating rebound acid production.

Very high intakes of calcium could lead to alkalosis. Intakes above 2,500 mg/day may not cause any noticeable side effects, but these doses will not help the bones and the kidney will need to do extra work to get rid of the excess calcium.

Calcium supplements may increase the risk of kidney stones. On the other hand, a large survey in men showed that those with the lowest dietary calcium had the most kidney stones. It is probably related to the total intake of calcium, which was over 2,000 mg on average in the WHI study.

http://www.medicinenet.com/calcium_s...al/article.htm

SIDE EFFECTS: Calcium is generally well tolerated. High levels of calcium can cause some adverse effects. Notify your doctor if you experience any of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, constipation, stomach pain, thirst, dry mouth, increased urination. If you notice other effects not listed above, contact your doctor or pharmacist.

http://arthritis.about.com/od/supplement/a/calcium.htm

Calcium Interactions:

It is important to talk with a doctor or pharmacist about possible interactions between your over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and calcium supplements. For example:

Calcium interferes with iron absorption (don't take a calcium supplement at the same time as an iron supplement - unless the calcium supplement is calcium citrate, or unless the iron supplement is taken with vitamin C)
Medications taken on an empty stomach should not be taken with calcium supplements

http://health.allrefer.com/health/ca...e-effects.html

Calcium in Diet: Side Effects


Increased calcium intake for limited periods does not normally cause toxic effects. The urine and the feces easily eliminate any excess calcium. However, an increased risk of kidney stones in persons susceptible to them has been associated with chronically high calcium intake.

Low intakes of calcium for prolonged periods of time can lead to calcium deficiency. This condition leads to osteoporosis, loss of the jaw bone (and secondary oral health problems), hypertension, and other disorders.

http://www.healthy.net/scr/Article.asp?Id=2019&xcntr=2

Exercise has been shown to improve absorption, and lack of exercise can lessen it. Stress also can diminish calcium absorption, possibly through its effect on stomach acid levels, digestion, and intestinal motility. Though calcium in the diet improves the absorption of the important vitamin B12, too much of it may interfere with the absorption of the competing minerals magnesium, zinc, iron, and manganese.

[Tigerlily]

I've noticed that my teeth look less healthy lately (a couple of chips and translucency). I picked up a calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D supplement.

I don't know how many to take. The bottle says 1-3 pills but I don't know how much I personally need. I don't eat many calcium rich foods, unfortunately.

Per pill:
Calcium---300mg
Magnesium--150mg
Vitamin D--200 IU

Is this good? It was the only vegan cal/mag/d supplement in the store.

[Korn]

Hi Tigerlily, there's some discussion about calcium requirements in the Calcium and Osteoporosis thread too, which may be useful. Remember that when minimum requirements are mentioned, they don't represent 'supplement' requirements, and that these requirements are set to a level useful for people with a very high protein intake.

Someone mentioned somewhere that he thought 200 mg daily was enough for vegans, but I haven't seen any studies backing this up. One study showed that among the studied subjects who got 525 mg of calcium a day (circa half the daily recommended intake in USA, or 85% of the UK RDI), vegans had the same fracture rates as the other diet groups.

You eat tahini regularly, don't you?

Here's a link to The Vegan Socity's page about calcium - it contains some info about calcium requirements and absorption.

I believe I've quoted some of it before - here's what they write about absorption:

Calcium Absorption

Only 20-30% of calcium in the average diet is absorbed. Calcium absorption can be reduced because it binds to fibre, phytate or oxalate in the intestine. Vegan diets contain more than average of these substances. Fibre is no longer thought to limit the availability of calcium from food. Phytate or phytic acid is found in grains, nuts and seeds and can bind with calcium making it less absorbable. However, the body does adapt to lower levels of available calcium and the American Dietetic Association and the UK's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries & Foods as well as the Department of Health believe that fibre, phytate and oxalate do not have a significant effect on calcium intake overall.

Although the calcium intake of adult vegans tends to be lower than the recommended optimum, it is close to the Estimated Average Requirement. There have been no reports of calcium deficiency in adult vegans.

The Estimated Average Requirement (UK) of a nutrient in the diet is an estimate of the average needs of a group of people. About half may need more, and half may need less.

Sunlight is important for calcium absorption!

[Korn]

Here's a link to an article I just found on vegkitchen.com

Plant-Based Calcium: Sources and Absorbability

[insubordination]

I read in a health mag that a lot of the calcium in food vegans would eat (ie in legumes, nuts etc.) is not well-absorbed because of the presence of something else (didn't read that closely obviously) which inhibits availability/absorbtion. They suggested all kinds of greens and figs.

[flying plum]

I read in a health mag that a lot of the calcium in food vegans would eat (ie in legumes, nuts etc.) is not well-absorbed because of the presence of something else (didn't read that closely obviously) which inhibits availability/absorbtion. They suggested all kinds of greens and figs.

yes, i've read this recently. due to a protein in it or something that stops us breaking it down...

i'm still learning a lot about nutrition (which i think is a highly beneficial part of beocming vegan), and i take a multi-vitamin just to be sure. especially at the moment when i seem to be living in the library and don't always have the time to eat as properly as i like.

but i really want to be able to get all my nutrients from 'natural' sources eventually. i sometimes feel that taking supplements just makes people think that veganism isn't a 'natural' way to live, and i want to prove it can be done without any artificial compensation.

amanda

[herbwormwood]

Does anyone here strive to meet or actually meet their calcium requirements without supplements (including fortified foods)?

I read somewhere that the Dutch as a people are taller because of high milk intake. I wonder if we all are taller now due to milk and need more calcium than plants can (reasonably and practically) give. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should drink milk or even that it is a "good" source of calcium. I'm just trying to think reasonably about the subject.

I looked into this and I found a researcher who claims it is because the statistics are skewed because of family size, women who have children later in life have smaller children.
Heres the link.
http://www.growtall.com/tallest-people.htm
I would think that the other likely cause of the Dutch being taller on average could be genetic.

[nervine]

Does anyone here strive to meet or actually meet their calcium requirements without supplements (including fortified foods)?

I read somewhere that the Dutch as a people are taller because of high milk intake. I wonder if we all are taller now due to milk and need more calcium than plants can (reasonably and practically) give. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should drink milk or even that it is a "good" source of calcium. I'm just trying to think reasonably about the subject.

i think people are taller because of the steroids in milk and meat. I don't worry about calcium at all, i drink quite alot of soymilk, eat green veggies very regularly, same with nuts and seeds.

[Ratiocinator]

I am trying to boost my calcium at the moment. I get over A GRAM of calcium by mixing together the following:

~20g spirulina (also includes vitamin D, apparently - I am seeking confirmation of this),
one avocado,
~70g almonds,
3 tablespoons of blackstrap molasses,
cacao powder,
14 dates,
two tablespoons of hemp oil (for perfect ratio omega 3 to omega 6 oils)

[auntierozzi]

I wanted to say thank you to Eve for recommending this book
"Strong Women Stay Young"
I have started working with weights and am really enjoying it. I found this book very helpful in explaining how to strengthen bones and muscles. I wanted to recommend it again.

[paragonx]

Can anyone advise me on high calcium foods. I have a well rounded diet and keep a food diary but i don't seem to be getting enough of calcium.

Here is an example of my food diary.

I can't seem to post an excel document. Hold tight while i figure it out.

[bryzee86]

here's from the vegan society, hope it helps:

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/foo...on/calcium.php

[nervine]

nuts and seeds, best soaked for a few hours first, brocolli, spirulina, mineral water, kale. i don't like the vegan society. u don't need tofu or fortified milks or supplements.. and that RDA shit i don't believe in either. it all comes from corporate backed 'studies' and we all know how much you can trust the government when it comes to food..

[paragonx]

ok here is a link to an average day for me. I do vary the foods from day to day but pretty much get the same outcome.

http://mywebpage.netscape.com/BSOAMX69/Daily+Diet+2.htm