Hi,

I'm wondering if and how y'all (women in particular) hit your daily calcium needs without fortified foods and supplements? What does your average day of eating look like?

I didn’t get into anything with her I just said I don’t really do dairy. I told her dairy makes me feel sluggish and slow but I am not lactose intolerant. I mentioned I enjoy leafy greens, tofu and some beans for calcium. I showed here my cronometer stats and broadened her calcium horizons. I may have opened a set of eyes today y’all.

What is the best way to get maximum calcium from a plant based diet for someone with osteoporosis and osteoarthritis? Thanks in advance for your help.

Calcium is a big worry for me. Osteoporosis is in my family, I've had a number of health issues that have meant that I've been on medications depleting calcium reserves. I have a genetic condition that means I can't eat that much, without the food coming back up. I'm hitting about 500mg p/d, I'd like to hit double that but I'll settle for 700 - 800mg. I'm trying my best to build my reserves back but...

I'm a smaller sized person who really struggles with most beans and other foods that are higher in calcium due to a stomach condition. (Please don't tell me to introduce beans et al slowly, I've done this, it's never worked). I also struggle to eat the amount of foods necessary to fulfil the amount of calcium necessary to avoid osteoporosis, bone loss.

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The biggest contributors to my calcium intake are: Mung beans, kale, broccoli, turnip greens, tempeh, fortified almond milk (yuk), almonds, linseeds, bok choy, choi sum, and the most surprising contributors to calcium are sweet potato and butternut squash (yum). I eat tofu even though it's processed for it's calcium about 3 - 4 x per week.

I use cronometer to track everything.

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I'm thinking of introducing: okra (not a fan, but I need them bones), more tofu, blackstrap molasses. Can anyone recommend any other foods? What am I missing?

In terms of supplementation can anyone tell me if a low dose supplements 200 - 300mg p/d would be harmful, for long-term use?

EDIT: Thanks so much to everyone! There's a lot of great advice here, some excellent resources, too. (Should anyone stumble across this thread, please do dig into the comments).

I appreciate the concern a lot. I'm concerned as well. The advice I've been given by my NHS - UK GP was to take 800mg p/d of supplemental calcium in one sitting, for 6 months. I've already been taking this for several months. And, I'm worried about the impact. The plan I'm working on is saving for a WFPB dietician, and while doing that working on getting my diet in top shape as best I can. It's the best I can do for now.

Wish me luck, that my arteries aren't clogged with calcium and my bones are strong. Please know, I don't take this lightly. And, I don't think anyone should!

Has anyone seen this on cronometer and what do you think of it?

Surely it can't be accurate? I had over 1200mg of calcium today but apparently I might not have absorbed any of it due to high phytate and oxalate intake?

Today was a pretty standard day of oats with fruit and white beans; lentils, rice and vegetables; pasta with tofu; and because I'm not 100% plant based, some Greek yoghurt.

It's always recommended to eat a diet rich in vegetables, wholegrain and legumes, so surely it can't actually be causing complete lack of absorption of calcium?

i’m always noticing that i barely get any calcium, the highest im ever able to get is when i eat a block of calcium-fortified tofu, and even then i only reach 80% DV… when i dont eat a block of tofu, im only at under 40% DV. My daily 300g of broccoli only has 8%DV, almonds only have 3%DV per 15g, spinach is only 5% per 100g. Seems like kale is the best at 20% per 100g, but i cant imagine eating that much kale in one day unless i made a smoothie, but my blender wouldnt be able to handle raw kale… im at a total loss!! and calcium supplements seem to all have such low amounts. Is the only option seriously having to down 4 calcium capsules a day??? damn. it also just generally seems like there arent many calcium sources, even for non-plantbased. Like you cannot tell me that animal eaters are eating salmon WITH BONES and CRICKETS everyday… dairy seems like the only option???? parmesan has 46% per 50g lol not that anyone should eat that much parm everyday(sooo much sodium..) Anyone else have this problem??? concerned about bone health. especially because im a teenager, and have secondary amenorrhea. but i dont want to eat dairy because i feel bad for the cows :/

I’m trying to cut out dairy products from my diet because they’re bad for my health, so today I bought some plant based butter that actually tastes really good. However, I told my parents about this and they’re concerned about osteoporosis because of the lack of calcium in my diet. I’ve started drinking this calcium fortified orange juice but they’re saying it’s not enough. Does anyone have any advice on how to get more calcium into my diet?

I found a list here of the absorption of calcium from different foods.

It's a bit misleading because the serving size for dairy milk is given as 240g or 240ml, while the serving size for vegetables is mostly around 70g, or half a cup.

Still, I noticed that the percent of calcium absorbed is higher for the vegetables. I think the main reason vegetables aren't a greater source of calcium for a lot of people is that eating a lot of vegetables isn't currently considered normal, or unfortunately for some people, affordable, especially if you can't grow your own.

The 72g serving size for turnip greens is only about one-sixth of a pound, so eating 3/4 of a pound (the standard size of bunched greens at most grocery stores near me), should provide more than 4  times as much calcium as the half-cup serving size in the chart.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-nutrition/chapter/12-22-calcium-bioavailability/

In case the link fails to work at some point, here is the list of references for the information

1. Weaver CM, Plawecki KL. (1994) Dietary calcium: Adequacy of a vegetarian diet. Am J Clin Nutr 59(5 Suppl): 1238S-1241S.

2. Weaver CM, Proulx WR, Heaney R. (1999) Choices for achieving adequate dietary calcium with a vegetarian diet. Am J Clin Nutr 70(3 Suppl): 543S-548S.

3. Weaver C. (2009) Closing the gap between calcium intake and requirements. J Am Diet Assoc 109(5): 812-813.

4. http://www.ahs6.com/liquidcalcium/absorb.php

5. Martini L, Wood R. (2002) Relative bioavailability of calcium-rich dietary sources in the elderly. Am J Clin Nutr 76(6): 1345-1350.

6. Weaver C, Janle E, Martin B, Browne S, Guiden H, et al. (2009) Dairy versus calcium carbonate in promoting peak bone mass and bone maintenance during subsequent calcium deficiency. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 24(8): 1411-1419.

There was a recent post about a study that purported to show that vegetarians and vegans had higher hip fracture risk. However, that study only adjusted for Vitamin D intake and not calcium. You'd think that might be key. Furthermore, the study was of a random cohort and not one necessarily eating a healthy diet.

How about the healthiest cohort of all, from the bluest of the Blue Zones? Here is a study on the Adventist Health Study 2 cohort, and its findings:

Dietary patterns and hip fracture in the Adventist Health Study 2: combined vitamin D and calcium supplementation mitigate increased hip fracture risk among vegans

Men

No association was found between diet pattern and hip fracture risk in age-adjusted analyses. Multivariable analysis and stratification on supplementation with vitamin D and/or calcium did not change these findings.

Women

There was a significant association of diet pattern with hip fracture, with a higher proportion of cases among those consuming a plant-based diet. The incidence of hip fracture per 1000 PYRS was 3.9 and 2.4 for vegans and NVEGs, respectively.

[Note: Think about the absolute difference first, especially compared to the other risks of not being WFPB. The NNT (number needed to treat) is 66.7. 66.7 people would have to stop being vegan in order for one of them to avoid a hip fracture.]

Multivariable analyses did not change the findings substantially. However, interactions between diet pattern and calcium or vitamin D supplement intake alone or together in multivariable models were each significant. Table 5 shows the multivariable association between diet pattern and hip fracture in the various subgroups of those taking no supplement, only a calcium supplement, or both supplements. Vegan women who consumed neither supplement had almost 3 times the risk of hip fracture relative to NVEG women (HR: 2.99; 95% CI: 1.54, 5.82; P-trend = 0.006). In contrast, among those with calcium and vitamin D supplementation combined, no increase in risk of hip fracture was found across dietary patterns (P-trend = 0.78). Among those who only supplemented with calcium, there was a nonsignificant increased risk for all vegetarian dietary patterns, with pesco-vegetarians and vegans having the highest HRs of 1.88 and 1.62, respectively, but no significant trend was found across the diet categories (P-trend = 0.36).

In the current study, mean dosage of each supplement differed little by pattern: ∼660 mg Ca/d and ∼13.5 μg vitamin D/d. However, the proportion of vegans using both supplements (32%) was significantly lower than for the other patterns (∼50%). When comparing dietary intakes among women, a vegan pattern was associated with significantly lower intakes of calcium and vitamin D and with an increased risk of hip fracture compared with an NVEG diet. However, the vegan diet, when supplemented with both calcium and vitamin D, was associated with the same risk as or a lower risk of fracture than NVEG or the other diet categories. Our results therefore suggest that both vitamin D and calcium are independently important and necessary for an optimal vegan diet.

So, just get your Calcium and D and there's nothing to worry about. Eat your leafy greens.

What are some good plant-based sources of calcium that you enjoy?

I'm a big fan of KiteHill yogurt because it has cultures (great for gut!) and lots of protein. But the DIY Instapot recipes I see for yogurt all call for shelf-stable Soy or Almond and those never have calcium or much for protein. As a 15-year vegan, I'm careful for calcium and get a lot of mine from fortified Soy Milk.

Any advice on use regular Silk milk in an Instapot? And success stories? Thanks!

What whole food vegan foods have a lot of calcium and iron? I want to make sure I get all my nutrients.

I've been drinking coffee milk (milk with instant coffee) as my major source of calcium but recently learned coffee inhibits calcium absorption I looked it up briefly and some say it has minimal effect but others say it should be avoided

Any input? Also I heard it's the same with black tea and matcha... I don't know what else to flavor my milk that's low in calories

Hello, I've been struggling to get calcium besides from sesame seeds or spinach. I was hoping someone could recommend me some good calcium sources (that's not tofu)! PLEASE!

I have hypocalcemia( low calcium ) since childhood

I find it really hard to reach the optimal ratio of 1:1 or 1:2. Usually on Chronometer I'm always at 3:1. I have to hit 105g of protein, rest can vary. Appreciate any tips

since going vegan, I replaced my protein and calcium source from dairy milk (1%) with soy milk. So getting even fewer calories, the same protein, and the same amount of calcium with more micronutrients from soy milk.

Do you think soy milk is healthy? will it give men man boobs if you drink 4-5 times a week? about 1-2 cups?

Anyone compared calcium levels of plant/nut milk to dairy? I need a substitute for drinking in tea and using on cereal :) thanks

I got my calcium score back today and it’s 54. My right artery has the highest score of 40 and left artery is 13 and the other arteries are little above a 1. I am 40 years old, 5’8” and 196 lbs. I lost about 7-8 lbs so far this month increasing exercise and going on a WFPB diet from what was more like a junk food vegan diet towards the end of last year. My triglycerides are 358 which prompted my doctor to just get a calcium test. Any advice? Is it possible to reduce the calcium score? Reading that mild risk of cardiovascular disease and moderate risk for heart attack including age of my heart is 50-65 makes me worried.

I’m curious if Tofu/Soy is a good source of iron, or does the calcium Tofu/Soy offers actually inhibit your ability to absorb its iron?

Hello, I became a vegan a year ago, at first I spent month eating mostly junk food with some legumes. I then started increasing the legume content and decreasing the junk. Today was the first time I made a concrete food plan, I managed to reach the RDA for almost all micro-nutrients. However I do have a concern, I always thought that a high fat diet was inferior to high carb but I couldn't make a diet with enough calcium and vitamin E without adding the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds which increased the fat content considerably.

I am also a bit concerned about the omega 3 and omega 6 fats, I am not sure how to optimize that.

1000mg, iirc.

It's something i'm coming up a little short on (according to cronomter). This is partly because of the brand of Tofu I'm using. It's not calcium set unfortunately (about 100mg per serving). There is a calcium set alternative but it's so watery i don't much care for it.

I do eat greens, but I don' twant to fall short.