Attn Vegans! Foods with Calcium

vegantriathlete
vegantriathlete Posts: 32 Member
edited October 3 in Food and Nutrition
Ever since I came on MFP, I have been watching my calcium intake. I almost NEVER get my RDI and most that I do get is from soy milk. I'm looking for high calcium foods. Even 1 cup of spinach only gives 3% of the RDI (according to MFP, although I have seen 10% in other places, but it is possible MFP is showing the absorbed amount). What do YOU (ie. vegans) eat to get enough calcium?

Replies

  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    Yep, the fortified non-dairy milks are usually how I get my calcium in. But there are other foods that have calcium. Leafy greens (kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy) are a good source. Some other sources are nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) and beans (pinto, navy, garbanzo, black, etc.). There are also fortified cereals out there. Cooking with a lot of different herbs and spices helps too, as these also have calcium.
  • atomdraco
    atomdraco Posts: 1,083 Member
    Like beans, broccoli, almonds, tofu, Cottage cheese, etc. Read more here:

    1. Calcium in the Vegan Diet - http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm
    2. http://www.tipsonhealthyliving.com/diet-and-fitness/14-calcium-rich-foods-you-need-to-eat-right-now
  • vegangirl88
    vegangirl88 Posts: 104 Member
    I'm not sure that all the foods on here have the calcium info, as some days I have eaten alpro soya yoghurt, rice dream milk with added calcuim, spinach, etc etc but I was still coming up at 0% calcium. A quick look on Google threw up this site http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm#table1 which might help us both hit that calcium target!! My main issue is with iron - once again, I'm not sure if this is because of the info being put into MFP, but pretty much every day I'm coming up with 0% which I can't imagine is good if it is accurate!! Any tips for iron are greatly received!!

    Right now for calcium I have soy/rice milk products with added calcium, spinach and brocolli. I think my bread has added calcium as well. xxx
  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    I'm not sure that all the foods on here have the calcium info, as some days I have eaten alpro soya yoghurt, rice dream milk with added calcuim, spinach, etc etc but I was still coming up at 0% calcium. A quick look on Google threw up this site http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/calcium.htm#table1 which might help us both hit that calcium target!! My main issue is with iron - once again, I'm not sure if this is because of the info being put into MFP, but pretty much every day I'm coming up with 0% which I can't imagine is good if it is accurate!! Any tips for iron are greatly received!!

    Right now for calcium I have soy/rice milk products with added calcium, spinach and brocolli. I think my bread has added calcium as well. xxx

    I'm not sure why you would be coming up with 0% iron most days, unless you're using incorrect items from the food database for your foods. Much of the foods you get calcium from also are a good source of iron (so the ones I mentioned above). Vegans/Vegetarians in general need more iron (since plant sources contain only what’s called “non-heme” iron, which isn’t absorbed as well as “heme iron”, which is found in meat). Load up on veggies, nuts and seeds, and whole grains, and you should be fine. I generally go over my daily recommendation doing this—feel free to check out my diary for my ideas (I go over on iron more now that I get a lot from my raw vegan protein powder). I changed my diary settings to show iron so you can see.

    Also, here is a good resource: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/iron
  • vegantriathlete
    vegantriathlete Posts: 32 Member
    Ha! I did a little research and it seems that sesame seeds are high in calcium (9% on MFP for 1 Tbsp of dried sesame seeds).
    23 almonds will give 8% of the RDI.
    Spinach, collards, and broccoli are all right, but they have a surprisingly low amount of calcium and you need to eat A LOT to get even a few %.
  • vegantriathlete
    vegantriathlete Posts: 32 Member
    Yep, the fortified non-dairy milks are usually how I get my calcium in. But there are other foods that have calcium. Leafy greens (kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy) are a good source. Some other sources are nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) and beans (pinto, navy, garbanzo, black, etc.). There are also fortified cereals out there. Cooking with a lot of different herbs and spices helps too, as these also have calcium.

    1 cup of chickpeas = 4% on MFP
    1 cup of black beans = 5%
    1 cup of chopped kale = 9%
    1 cup of collard greens = 32% - this seems like a good one
    1 cup of cooked bok choy = 7%

    One would need to eat A LOT of beans and greens to get 100% or even 50%! Collards seem to be a good option, but to be honest I don't think I've even eaten any before. :o/
  • _GlaDOS_
    _GlaDOS_ Posts: 1,520 Member
    Yep, the fortified non-dairy milks are usually how I get my calcium in. But there are other foods that have calcium. Leafy greens (kale, collard greens, mustard greens, bok choy) are a good source. Some other sources are nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts) and beans (pinto, navy, garbanzo, black, etc.). There are also fortified cereals out there. Cooking with a lot of different herbs and spices helps too, as these also have calcium.

    1 cup of chickpeas = 4% on MFP
    1 cup of black beans = 5%
    1 cup of chopped kale = 9%
    1 cup of collard greens = 32% - this seems like a good one
    1 cup of cooked bok choy = 7%

    One would need to eat A LOT of beans and greens to get 100% or even 50%! Collards seem to be a good option, but to be honest I don't think I've even eaten any before. :o/

    Well, I do eat a lot of those things, but you are right. I generally get most of my calcium and iron from my almond milk and protein powder, or meat and cheese when I eat it (I'm not a vegan, just eat that way a lot).
  • Vegan_Chick
    Vegan_Chick Posts: 474 Member
    Swiss Chard
  • vegantriathlete
    vegantriathlete Posts: 32 Member
    Swiss Chard

    1 cup of cooked, chopped swiss chard = 10%

    Greens really are great (apparently spinach has something in it that prevents the absorption of calcium). I guess my biggest issue is that I don't live close to a grocery store and can't pop in on my way home from work to buy greens every few days. That means that I would have to buy a LOT of greens at one time. Also, I'm kind of picky about my greens. I like the ones that aren't packaged in containers or plastic. There are a few specific stores that I go to for my greens, which I don't buy nearly as often as I should. Also, greens are kind of expensive... but can I really put a price on my health? Nope! I'm going to put in some serious effort over the next couple of weeks and see if I can get up to 100% every day!
  • vegantriathlete
    vegantriathlete Posts: 32 Member
    Blackstrap molasses is an excellent source of iron, I add a TBSP to a smoothie.

    1 Tbsp = 20%
    NOW we are getting somewhere!
  • raevynn
    raevynn Posts: 666 Member
    Tahini, which is sesame seed "butter"... I get the raw kind. You can put it in smoothies, or use it to make your own hummus... or, you can just eat hummus!

    I love hummus... if you make your own, you can leave out/add any ingredients that will make it better for you.

    I also drink a magnesium/calcium suppliment called "Natural Calm"... I add it to my daily water bottles (I haul two bottles to work each day with my Calm and MSM powder in them).
  • lfusfeld
    lfusfeld Posts: 6
    Spinach and chard are NOT good sources of calcium, because although high in calcuim, they are also high in oxalates which impede your body's absorption of the calcium. Try kale and collards instead.
  • JasonSwetland
    JasonSwetland Posts: 235 Member
    Too be honest I take a one a day and a couple extra supplements to get all my Base vitamin needs fullfilled. Then I go back and eat as much of the rainbow rule as I can, and also making sure during the week the majority of my veggies are foods high in chlorophyll (sp!). I try to either drink milk ( I know its not vegan Im not that strict yet, working there still.) or an almond milk fortified with the calcium. I guess my theory is that The supplements fill the dead zones where I miss all the nutirients each day.

    In case you dont know the rainbow rule you eat fruits and veggies of each color of the rainbow with the peak consumption in the middle- so 1 red,1-2 yellow 3-4 green 1-2 blue and 1 purple each day. Unfortunatly its more difficult to hit the blue/ purple foods than the rest and theres an abundence of red fruits and veggies (which most people focus on instead of the green.) so I often end up eating a lot of purple onions and beans.

    Tahini is really good in Hummus I could eat that all day.

    I also juice kale with a cucmber, 2 celery stalks, two apples and ginger root (and a little lemon. It is really good if you like Veggie fruit juice mixed. Lots o Calcium there.

    I hate the swiss chard yuck!
  • sarafourteen
    sarafourteen Posts: 1 Member
    i find that when i go dairy free, and also as low sugar as my hormones can bear, i start to crave kale, spinach and chard. Weird but true. i am basically doing the Skinny ***** diet this time, after years on the Zone. I also did a lot of green smoothies at the beginning of this year, and those totally disguise the raw greens, if you usually don't like them just in salads or sauted.
  • phlumpet
    phlumpet Posts: 106 Member
    I second the blackstrap molasses - it has a bite so I mix it with some other things with my oatmeal (also almond meal which has some calcium)

    Another great source of calcium is kale. Make baked kale chips, kale green smoothies and there is a great kale salad recipe in the 30 Day Diabetes Miracle cookbook (email me if you want the recipe, I can look it up for you).

    Another great source is amaranth, a pseudograin that can be cooked like quinoa or rice.

    I want to second someone's input about the spinach - this has a lot of calcium on the label, but not a lot of that calcium is absorbed because it is high in oxalates.
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