If you don't eat dairy products or drink milk, how do get calcium?

Question

So if you're vegan, what foods do you eat to get a plentiful supply of calcium?

Answer 1

You can take supplements but calcium is also in almonds, brazil nuts, green leafy veg, dried fruit.

Answer 2

It's a popular misconception that dairy milk is the only plentiful source of calcium. Leafy green veggies and beans contain calcium. Also soybeans - which make up a lot of veg food like burgers, veggie mincemeat and tofu - contain calcium. Soymilk and other dairy alternatives are very often fortified with calcium too.

In fact, the calcium in dark green vegetables is more easily absorbed into your body than the calcium in milk.

If after all that you're still worried you could always take supplements - vegan or not, it can never hurt.

Answer 3

It's actually a common fallacy that calcium is only found in milk and milk products. It is one that has clearly been encouraged by the dairy industry.

Calcium is encountered in many food products and in some it is found is a more bio-available form than in milk products. (Bio-available means that it is easily absorbed by your body).

Calcium in milk does not have a high level of bio-availability, simply because most individuals have some degree of lactose intolerance. Species weren't actually supposed to drink another species milk.

You can find calcium in products such as:

seaweeds
nuts
blackstrap molasses
fennel
beans
oranges
green vegetables (chard, broccoli etc etc)

A good way to get a plentiful supply of calcium is to add fennel or green vegetables to a juice or meal, drink orange juice, molasses on toast or a handful of nuts as a snack.
You can also find soya milk fortified with calcium.

I hope this helps

Answer 4

Milk actually causes you to LOSE calcium because of the high animal protein content. I know, shocker, the dairy industry is lying to you to sell their products.

But really, there are plenty of foods that have calcium, including chickpeas, some nuts, tofu, and soy milk. Check out www.vrg.org for more information. And if you get ample vitamin D, it helps with calcium absorption. You can get plenty of vitamin D by spending a few minutes in the sun, depending on how dark your skin is and how far from the equator you live.

Answer 5

... uuuhhh, the same place all other mammals on the planet. From my FOOD. Pretty much everything has calcium in it. What doesn't have calcium... hm... sorry, can't think of anything. Did you want a list of high sources?

Don't forget, it's also about balance -- all those people with osteoporosis have it due to too much protein as calcium is used in breaking down excess protein and gets flushed down the toilet. You have to think about what helps or hinder the absorbtioh of certain vitamins and minerals etc.

There a page on calcium here listing lots of sources:
http://www.bestbread.ca/QUICK_-_REFERENCE_NUTRITION_CHART.pdf

Answer 6

You get it by eating plenty of foods that are rich in calcium, like dark green vegetables, legumes, calcium set tofu, fortified orange juice and soymilk, and whole grains. Milk is not the superior source of calcium that the dairy industry would have you believe; animal protein causes an acidic environment in your blood and your body has to leach calcium from your bones to neutralize it. It's not a coincidence that countries that drink the least milk have the lowest rates of osteoporosis and countries that drink the most have the highest rates of osteoporosis. A cup of cooked quinoa has more calcium than a quart of milk.

Answer 7

Adults over 21 cannot absorb as much calcium as people want you to think. Also soya and other beans have a lot of calcium. Also in Asian countries, where they don't really use dairy products there are much lower rates of cancer, especially breast cancer.

Answer 8

there is more calcium in green veg (esp spinach and broccoli)
swede
rice milk
fortified soya milk
tofu
alot of nuts , cashews are really high in calcium as are almonds
it is only a myth that we have to have diary products for calcium

make sure you get plenty of "good" fats though in the form of
sunflower/pumpkin seeds
and various oils, like olive, hemp, sesame etc
avacados

hope you enjoy making some good discoveries

Answer 9

Most alternative milks to dairy, like soya and rice, are fortified with it. There are other sources of calcium available too:
* Tofu
* Green leafy vegetables - e.g. spinach, watercress
* Almonds
* Brazil nuts
* Figs

This website may also help:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/calcium.html

Answer 10

My mom was so convinced that if I went vegan, I wouldn't get enough calcium, you know, so I had to change her mind. The soy milk that I dring, Silk, had the same amount or more calcium as regular cow's milk. In my opinion, soy milk has so many more advantages than cow's milk, and it's cruelty-free. Hope I helped! =)