Drink Your Milk. Milk Does a Body Good. Got Milk?
Alright already, so we know we are supposed to be getting calcium daily, and dairy products do contain this valuable mineral, but you can find calcium in many other foods including broccoli, almonds, salmon, and fortified orange juice. Try to get your calcium from the food you eat, rather than supplements, since a new study shows that it's better for your bones.
For women over the age of 19, we should be getting 1,000 mg of calcium a day. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. It is also vital in daily body functions like muscle contraction and relaxation, blood clotting, and the transmission of nerve impulses. Our bodies do not produce it, so we need to get it from the foods we eat, or from supplements. If we don't get enough, our bodies will drain calcium from our bones, leading to osteoporosis.
Are you getting enough? To help you figure that out, I made a chart listing a variety of foods and the amount of calcium they contain. To check it out read more
|Food||Amount||Amount of Calcium in mg|
|Hard cheese (cheddar)||1 oz||240|
|Nonfat or 1% cottage cheese||1 cup||155|
|Plain yogurt||6 oz||290|
|Ice cream||1 cup||218|
|Fortified soy or rice milk||1 cup||300|
|Fortified orange juice||1 cup||300|
|Black beans||1/2 cup||38|
|Pinto beans or chick peas||1/2 cup||40|
|Sesame seeds||2 tbsp||180|
|Tahini (sesame seed butter, used to make hummus)||2 tbsp||130|
|Almond Butter||2 tbsp||86|
|Brazil nuts or hazelnuts||1/4 cup||55|
|Bok choy||1/2 cup||75|
|Cooked green beans||1 cup||58|
|Cooked butternut squash||1 cup||84|
|Cooked sweet potato||1 cup||70|
|Naval orange||1 medium||56|
|Dried figs||5 medium||135|
|Sardines (canned)||8 medium||370|
|Oysters (canned)||1/2 cup||60|
|Shrimp (canned)||1/2 cup||40|
Can you get too much calcium? Yes, if you are consuming more than 2,500 mg a day from food and/or supplements, it can interfere with the absorption of zinc, iron, and magnesium. It may also increase the risk of kidney stones. So check your diet and make sure you're getting the right amount.