Much More Than Milk

Newsflash: You don’t need to drink milk to get your calcium. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends that adults get 1,000 mg of calcium a day for optimal health; and plenty of non-dairy foods are high in calcium. Check out our list (for comparison’s sake, a cup of low-fat milk has about 300 mg of calcium):

• Sardines (3 oz can) – 324 mg
• Collard greens (1 cup cooked) – 300 mg
• Spinach (1 cup cooked) – 240 mg
• Calcium-fortified cereal – 100-1000 mg
• Turnip greens (1 cup boiled) – 198 mg
• Pink salmon (3 oz) – 181 mg
• Blackstrap molasses (1 tbsp) – 172 mg
• Instant oats (1 packet) – 165 mg
• Baked beans (1 cup) – 154 mg
• White beans (3/4 cup) – 120 mg

Just keep in mind that some foods and habits can actually interfere with your body’s ability to absorb calcium. (If you’re a smoker or a coffee drinker, you probably won’t like this list.) Some inhibitors include:

• Coffee, soft drinks, and diuretics
• Excess protein (especially red meat)
• Refined sugar
• Alcohol, cigarettes, and weed
• Too much salt
• Too little exercise
• Tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers (contain solanine – which prevents calcium absorption)

image: istockphoto