How To Get 600 Mg Of Calcium From Your Diet

Your body will always maintain your blood calcium levels, which is why it is important to get an adequate supply of calcium each day. Calcium helps form strong bones from childhood to early adulthood. When levels are low, the body will take calcium from the bones to compensate, increasing your risk of developing bone diseases such as osteoporosis. The recommended dietary allowance for calcium is 1,300 mg for children ages 3 to 18, 1,000 mg for adults ages 19 to 50 and 1,200 mg per day for adults 51 and older. With a bit of planning, you can easily get 600 mg of calcium from foods in a single meal to help meet your daily dietary goals.

Step 1

Consume dairy or dairy substitutes. Milk and other dairy products are probably the best known sources of calcium. One cup of skim milk contains 299 mg of calcium, which means it would only take 2 cups to get 600 mg of your daily calcium requirement. One cup of non-fat yogurt can be even higher, with 372 mg of calcium, according to the USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. Fortified soy milk and tofu are also good sources of calcium.

Step 2

Eat leafy green vegetables every day. Not only do leafy greens provide fiber and vitamins with very few calories, they are a great source of calcium. Each cup of cooked collard greens contain 357 mg of calcium, rhubarb has 348 mg per cooked cup and kale has 94 mg of calcium per cooked cup. That means that you could get 600 mg of calcium by eating 2 to 6 cups of greens each day.

Step 3

Spread blackstrap molasses on a biscuit or a piece of cornbread. Although amounts vary, blackstrap molasses has about 180 mg of calcium per tbsp. A 4-inch biscuit prepared from either a regular or buttermilk recipe contributes 237 mg of calcium and self-rising cornmeal has 483 mg per cup. A batch of cornbread made with 1 cup of self-rising cornmeal and sweetened with 2 tbsp. of blackstrap molasses would have well over 600 mg of calcium.

Step 4

Eat sardines. Canned sardines with bones have more than 100 mg of calcium per ounce. That means that it would take less than 6 oz. of canned sardines to equal 600 mg of calcium.

Step 5

Add beans to your daily diet. Beans are a great source of fiber as well as minerals, including calcium. Chickpeas have about 80 mg of calcium per cup, baked beans have about 182 mg per cup and black-eyed peas have 211 mg per cup. One cup of black-eyed peas and a piece of cornbread would supply more than 600 mg of calcium.

Tips and Warnings

Although spinach has a high calcium content like other leafy greens, it has very low bioavailability because of the oxalates present in spinach, so it should not be counted toward your daily calcium goals.