Calcium is essential for maintaining optimal health, especially for bone growth. Discover how calcium-rich foods can improve your overall well-being.
The 10 Best Foods for Calcium
The best time for your bones to grow is when you're little—and the calcium is one of the best «friends» ready to help you do it.
What Else Does Calcium Do in the Body?
Calcium has other functions in the body. Muscles and nerves use this mineral for muscle contraction and nerve transmission. Blood vessels use it to dilate and constrict as needed to regulate blood pressure. Hormonal secretions also depend on calcium, as does intracellular signaling.
Intracellular signaling is the process by which cells communicate with other cells, enabling thousands of them to know what to do and when. You can think of cells as an orchestra performing inside the body, but one that needs a conductor. Calcium is one of those conductors.
Your heartbeat depends on calcium, as does your pH level, and calcium activates metabolic enzymes. Whether nutrients enter the cell wall depends in part on your body's calcium supply.
Calcium Deficiency Is Quite Common
If you follow a diet based on processed foods, it's very likely that you're not taking enough calcium. Symptoms of calcium deficiency include:
- Muscle Ramps
- Tetany, the sensation that a muscle (such as the calf) tenses up and does not relax for several minutes
- Numbness and tingling in the legs and arms
- Bone Deformities in Growing Children
- Depression
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Slow heart rate
- Blood clotting that causes bleeding
- Loss of appetite
Calcium-Rich Foods
Below is a list of various natural foods that are rich in calcium, listed from highest to lowest calcium content.
- 1 cup of almonds 332 mg
- 85 g of canned sardines in olive oil, with bones—325 mg
- 1 cup of hazelnuts 282 mg
- 1 cup of Brazil nuts 260 mg
- 1 cup of cooked cabbage 218 mg
- 84 g of canned salmon with bones 181 mg
- 1 cup of pistachios 174 mg
- 1 cup of sesame seeds 165 mg
- 1 cup of parsley 122 mg
- 1 cup of green turnip 105 mg
- 1 cup of peanuts 104 mg
- 1 cup of walnuts 99 mg
- 1 cup of macadamia nuts 94 mg
- 1 cup of collard greens 90 mg
- 1 cup of sauerkraut 85 mg
- 1 cup of okra 82 mg
- 1 cup of breast milk 79 mg
- 1 cup of yellow beans 63 mg
- 1 cup of raw spinach 51 mg
- 1 cup of chestnuts 43 mg
How Much Calcium Do You Need Each Day?
To start with, you'll need 200 mg of calcium for infants and continues up to 1,300 mg for pregnant women and breastfeeding women. Interestingly, breast milk is much lower in calcium than cow’s milk—79 mg per cup compared to 290 mg per cup. Babies can easily meet their daily calcium needs by drinking the amount they’re supposed to.
Calcium requirements range from 700 mg per day once the child reaches the age of 1 year, and then changes at the age of 4 years at 1,000 mg. At the age of At age 9, the child needs 1,300 mg of calcium per day. Once a child reaches adulthood at age 19, only 1,000 mg of calcium per day is needed, while women aged 50 and men aged 70 need 1,200 mg per day.
Possible Diet
You can easily get 1,000 mg of calcium a day, but you need to plan for it on a daily basis. Here's an example of a daily meal plan that shows this is possible:
Breakfast
A smoothie made with one cup of collard greens and one cup of parsley: 212 mg
Add ½ cup of cabbage to the smoothie: 109 mg
57 grams of almonds 83 mg
Food
Caesar salad with 2 cups of spinach: 102 mg
85 grams of canned salmon with bones 181 mg
Choose Your Dessert 0 mg
Afternoon Snack
½ cup of pistachios 87 mg
Dinner
Steak 0 mg
½ cup of sauerkraut 42 mg
1 cup of cabbage 105 mg
Snack
½ cup of hazelnuts 141 mg
Total daily calcium: 1062 mg
Try eating calcium-rich foods for a week and let us know how you feel. It could change your life!
Hi there! What a great article—thank you!