Your body's calcium levels can drop due to a poor diet, dehydration, kidney problems or other medical conditions and treatments. Increasing your dietary calcium may help restore your health or prevent further damage. Unless your doctor orders you to take a mineral supplement, turn to foods with high levels of calcium to achieve the recommended intake of 1,000 to 1,200 mg per day. Adequate intakes from food combined with high supplemental doses can cause digestive upset and kidney stones.
Yogurt, Milk and Cheese
Plain nonfat yogurt offers the greatest calcium levels among dairy products, but milk provides added vitamin D, which you need to absorb calcium. One cup of yogurt contains up to 45 percent of the daily value, or DV, of calcium, while milk provides 30 percent of the DV per cup. High-calcium cheeses include Swiss, mozzarella and cottage cheeses, with as much as 22 percent of the DV for calcium. Foods made with dairy ingredients, such as eggnog, milkshakes and cheese sauces, are also calcium rich. Many rice and soy beverages have fortified calcium content.
Collards and Spinach
Cooking leafy greens raises mineral concentrations to high levels per 1-cup serving. Cooked spinach, turnip and collard greens all contain 20 percent or more of the DV for calcium. Other green vegetables, such as kale and Chinese cabbage, provide more moderate amounts of calcium.
Sardines and Salmon
Calcium deposits in the edible bones of fish can improve your mineral intake for the day. Sardines canned with tiny bones offer 32 percent of the DV of calcium. Pink salmon canned with bones is another fish option, with about half the calcium content of sardines.
Legumes
Many legumes are good sources of calcium, especially for people who don't consume dairy products. One cup of cooked black-eyed peas provides 20 percent of the DV of calcium as well as high content of other minerals such as potassium. Cooked soybeans and white beans also have large amounts of natural calcium. Unenriched soy products, such as tofu and soymilk, have moderate calcium levels.
Fortified Cereal and Orange Juice
Cereals with 100 percent of the DV of added calcium act as insurance for achieving your daily recommended totals. Some prepared and frozen concentrated orange juice varieties have as much as 35 percent of the DV. Manufacturers of foods such as bread or nutritional beverages that advertise calcium enrichment must disclose their calcium content per suggested serving. Check the nutrition facts on packages to find brands that are fortified with calcium.
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