The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends getting all or most of your daily calcium from a healthy diet, rather than from mineral supplements. The human body needs more calcium during certain stages of life, such as when bones are developing in children, and when bones use nutrients less efficiently in old age. The Food and Drug Administration recommends an average intake of 1,000 mg of calcium per day. Foods with 200 mg or more are considered high-calcium foods.
Dairy Products
Low-fat calcium foods such as low-fat milk (8 oz. 1 percent, 305 mg), yogurt (8 oz. plain, 415 mg) and cheese (1 oz. mozzarella, 207 mg) will provide you with over 20 percent of your dietary calcium within reasonable calorie counts. If you don't drink milk, enriched soy milk and rice drinks (8 oz., 368 mg and 283 mg) offer high-calcium boosts.
If you're on a weight-gain diet, milk shakes (11 oz., 457 mg calcium) are an appropriate calcium source. If not, the USDA Dietary Guidelines suggest limiting these beverages for their high fat and calorie impacts on a healthy diet.
Enriched Cereal
According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, enriched whole-grain cereals are part of a healthy diet for their vitamin, mineral and fiber contents. Ready-to-eat cereals that offer 100 percent of your daily calcium needs include General Mills Total varieties (about 1 cup, 1,000 mg calcium). Cream of Wheat cereals (1 cup, 232 mg) and Kellogg's Nutrigrain cereal bars (1 bar, 200 mg) also deliver large amounts of dietary calcium.
High-Calcium Fish
Fish canned with the delicate bones represent high-calcium foods that add additional potent nutrients to a healthy diet, such as vitamin D and beneficial omega-3 fatty acids. The USDA encourages frequent consumption of these nutrient-dense foods.
Canned sardines and salmon (3 oz., 325 mg and 181 mg calcium) have the highest dietary calcium content among fish. Most other fish and mollusks have moderate levels of calcium. Crustaceans such as blue crab and shrimp (3 oz. canned, 88 mg and 123 mg) provide the most calcium when they come from canned sources.
Vegetables
Certain vegetables also represent nutrient-dense calcium foods, due to their strong mineral and low-fat and calorie make-ups. The National Institutes of Health classify cooked collards, spinach, beet greens, turnip greens and mustard greens (1 cup, 266 mg calcium; 245 mg; 164 mg; 197 mg; and 104 mg) in this category since they offer iron and vitamin A as well.
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