Cant believe how low my calcium and iron is

racmac

HAve never really considered they may be low - I thought i ate quite well but on checking back the last 10 days of my diary I am nowhere near 100%. (I dont log my milk - I have skimmed in tea but dont think it would be enough to make a difference)

What foods can increase them and can anyone recommend good vitamin tablests (Im in UK)

isabellammm

bump. i have the same problem!

Elleinnz

I suspect that a lot of the foods in the database here does not have accurate information for things like calcium, iron, pottasium etc....

Other than the macro's and sugar, sodium, fat I would not trust the other information as gospel.....

it_be_asin

Keep in mind that calcium and iron content is optional to include in food profiles - and more often than not, details on calcium and iron content are not included. Often, it is simply not available on the food label to include in the food profile as it is entered.

Kirsty_UK

I gave up trying to track my calcium and iron on here, there just wasn't enough information logged, and what there was I didn't trust.

Artemis_Acorn

Calcium - leafy green vegetables, dairy (especially certain brands of yogurt), broccoli, and almonds are all good sources. Hummus with tahini in it is another source.

Iron - Meats, eggs (it's in the yolk, so not just egg whites), leafy green vegetables (eat with vitamin C for absorption) and beans. Also, certain enriched cereals are good sources. For example, 1/2 cup of grape-nuts cereal has 90% of the RDA for iron. I sometimes do just 1/4 of a cup of grape-nuts just for the iron!

significance

I struggle with my calcium, too. When I'm not deliberately looking for calcium in my diet, I typically get about 30% of what I should.
Really, drinking skim milk - 2-3 cups per day - is the easiest way to get calcium in your diet. If you dislike milk, adding a few drops of vanilla essence or a little Milo (1 teaspoon rather than the 3-4 the label suggests) can improve it without adding many calories. Or add fruit and make a smoothie, or add milk to your morning porridge instead of water.

Any other dairy is also good, of course. Non-fat yoghurt goes down well with no-sugar jelly.

I do fall back on calcium tablets fairly often, I'm afraid. Calcrate seem to be a good brand, low in heavy metals. There's recent evidence that calcium tablets aren't good for you in the long run, though - bad for the heart.

snailrunner

I use Vitabiotics iron capsules as well as multivitamins (3 for 2 in Tesco when I got mine).