NON-Dairy Foods High in Calcium

Not a dairy lover? Well, you don't have to drink your daily milk to get your calcium, which is a good thing, too - 10 million Americans over age 50 have osteoporosis (realage.com). To keep your bones in tip-top shape, you want to make sure that you are getting your daily calcium intake, and you don't need to wolf down cheese in order to do so. Learn some of the surprisingly non-dairy foods that have calcium in them.

The average glass of milk has 296 milligrams (mg) of calcium in it, and the average adult needs 1,000 mg of calcium for a healthy diet. So, spinach anyone? A single serving of spinach (which is a cup) has nearly 30% of your daily calcium in it. Holy cow- so bring it on, Popeye! That's 245 mg of calcium, almost as much as a glass of milk.

Sesame seeds are reputedly the one food that supplies the greatest amount of calcium that the body can readily absorb. At 351 mg of calcium per 1/4 cup of sesame seeds, this little seed is a great thing to sprinkle into your food for your calcium intake. Sprinkle on stir fry, into soups, and on salads (I love sesame seeds in sandwiches) and you can get a lot of your calcium intake from this little seed. Flax seed has calcium too - 2 tablespoons of flax seed is 52 mg.

Collard greens is another great server of calcium- 266 mg of calcium per cup served. Never had collard greens? Well, try them in place of spinach, and you may be amazed. Sprinkle a garnish of sesame seeds, and you're well on your way to meeting your daily calcium allowance. Other greens with calcium include broccoli (2 cups is 124 mg), celery (2 cups is 81 mg), kale (1 cup is 94 mg), and Swiss chard (1 cup is 102 mg).

If you love almonds, then you're getting some calcium there as well. An ounce of almonds has 75 mg of calcium, and 2 ounces of Brazil nuts (mmm) has 90 mg of calcium. Not into nuts? Well, then your sweet tooth can fill in some of your calcium needs too- a medium orange has 52 mg of calcium, and a single medium papaya has 73 mg of calcium.

See? You don't need to gulp down a gallon of milk or eat yogurt all damn day to get your calcium - you can mix it up with some greens, fruits, and even nuts to get your calcium. Mix and match these non-daity calcium carriers, and help keep your bones strong and healthy, so you can live stronger, longer!

Source:

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/15-non-dairy-foods-high-in-calcium.html