Calcium is an important part of a human’s diet and 75% of the calcium from food comes from dairy products. But what do you do if you’re lactose intolerant or have an allergy to the protein in milk? Can you still get enough calcium to meet the daily minimum requirement? Though it isn’t easy, the answer to this question is yes.

Non-Dairy Foods that Contain Calcium

There are many non-dairy foods that contain calcium. Eat 8 ounces of pasta or a serving of kale stems. Almonds, white beans, vegetables, raw tofu and soybeans also contain calcium. Be sure to include these foods in your diet. Another good source of calcium is to leave the bones in canned salmon when preparing it to eat.

Cut the Salt

Do not eat salt if you are unable to ingest dairy products. Salt causes human bones to shed much needed calcium and this can cause your bones to lose their density, which causes osteoporosis.

Vitamin D and Calcium

The human body cannot absorb calcium without Vitamin D. Though your body manufactures Vitamin D, it does this only if you get 15 minutes of sun exposure daily.

Dairy Foods and Calcium

The high protein in dairy products can cause your bones to lose calcium. Cut down on dairy products or don’t eat them at all. Eat more vegetables instead.

Age and Calcium Intake

· Those over 50 years need 1200 mg of calcium daily.

· People aged 19 through 50 need 1,000 mg. of calcium daily.

· Youths aged 9 to 18 need 1300 mg of calcium daily.

Non-Dairy Foods and Calcium

There are select foods that are non-dairy that will provide your body with much needed calcium.

· 3.5 ounces of raw tofu – 204 mg calcium

· ½ cup of fresh soybeans, boiled – 131 mg

· ¼ cup of almonds – 100 mg

· 1 cup of orange juice; calcium fortified – 300 mg

· ½ cup canned white beans – 96 mg

· ¼ cup dried figs – 72 mg

· ½ cup butternut squash, baked – 45 mg

· ½ cup cooked kale – 90 mg

· ½ cup cooked bok choy – 79 mg

For optimum bone health be sure you get the above foods to provide your body with the minimum daily amount of calcium. If you can’t reach your goal, take a calcium supplement, but be aware that if you do this, you also have to take a daily supplement of Vitamin D to enable your body to absorb the calcium.

by Mary M. Alward