Dairy-Free Foods With Calcium

Dairy-Free Foods With Calcium
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Calcium comes from both vegetable and animal sources. Dairy products are one of the richest sources of dietary calcium. However, fish, grains and other dairy-free foods supply milligrams of calcium to your daily diet, too. The Office of Dietary Supplements recommends 1,000 mg of calcium daily for adults between the ages of 19 and 50.

Seafood

Fish provide a dairy-free way to add calcium to your daily diet. Fish with the bones left in provide more calcium than boneless filets. A 3-ounce can of Atlantic sardines packed in oil, but drained, is one of the top sources of calcium in any non-dairy category, with 325 mg of calcium per serving, according to a University of New Hampshire list of calcium sources. Other fish on the list are 3-ounce servings of canned pink salmon with bones, which provides 181 mg of calcium; cooked Atlantic Ocean perch, with 116 mg of calcium; canned blue crab, with 86 mg of calcium; and farmed rainbow trout, which contains 73 mg of calcium.

Leafy Green Vegetables

Eat green leafy vegetables for a dairy-free source of calcium. The University of New Hampshire lists several green leafy vegetables, common in an American diet, and the amount of calcium contained in each ½ cup serving of a cooked, previously frozen portion. The list includes collard greens, with 178 mg of calcium; turnip greens, which has 124 mg of calcium; kale, with 90 mg of calcium; beet greens, with 82 mg of calcium; and dandelion greens, with 74 mg of calcium.

Grains

Grains are a source of dairy-free calcium to include in your diet, according to the University of Michigan Health System. The English muffin you eat for breakfast provides 96 mg and a corn muffin supplies 66 mg of calcium. Pancakes and waffles made from a mix with milk and egg added provide 179 mg of calcium each. Increase the amount of calcium in your sandwich and eat it on pita bread, which would add 49 mg of calcium to your diet, or two slices of whole wheat bread, with 40 mg of calcium.

Fortified Foods

Some low-calcium foods are fortified with calcium to increase the nutritional value. Breakfast cereal, soy milk and orange juice are products commonly fortified with calcium. According to a list of the calcium content in selected vegan foods provided by the Vegetarian Resource Group, 8 ounces of calcium-fortified orange juice contains 300 mg of calcium and 8 ounces of fortified soy milk contains 200 to 300 mg of calcium.

References

Article reviewed by Marianne C Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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