What Are The Best Non-Dairy Sources of Calcium?

Can people who forgo dairy still get enough calcium?

Yes, but in order to do this successfully you must prioritize obtaining calcium through non-dairy sources.

Fill your plate with green vegetables, consume canned fish with edible bones or use bone meal powder supplements as part of an overall healthy lifestyle strategy.

Your future self will thank you – in ten, twenty or thirty years your skeleton will have become stronger because of it!

Follow along to gain more knowledge about if dairy is healthy, supplementation strategies for calcium intake, and twenty non-dairy calcium-rich foods. But first let’s provide a brief introduction to calcium.

Why You Need Calcium
First and foremost, calcium is necessary to build bone. That is why over 99% of your bodily calcium can be found in your skeleton.

Bones form and break down throughout life. While children need additional calcium for bone development, adults require less for maintenance purposes (see table 1 of this fact sheet).

Calcium needs increase for adults over 70 to help combat bone density decline. But calcium alone is only one factor influencing bone health – other important contributors include vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin K, phosphorus and exercise.

Calcium serves more than just bone health; it acts as an electrolyte, conducting electricity from your nervous system to power itself.

Calcium imbalances can cause arrhythmias, muscle spasms and tremors; calcium is essential for contracting and relaxing muscles (including your heart) so as not to disrupt rhythmic patterns.

Are Dairy Sources of Calcium Safe? Every child knows that dairy products provide an excellent source of calcium. Below is a breakdown of calcium contents of some commonly consumed milk products (Note: for adults aged 19-50, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium is 1000 mg).

Plain yogurt (415 mg of calcium per 8-oz serving), mozzarella cheese (334 mg per 1.5-ounce serving) and skim milk (299 mg per cup) all offer good sources of calcium, but is it healthy for us as well? Providing we can tolerate dairy products, is it really nutritious to consume them?

How should a product be evaluated? That depends on its category; dairy aisles are full of fruity yogurts, chocolate milk and sweet milkshakes.

These pseudo-foods may appear nutritious because of their calcium content, but in reality they’re just sugar bombs that leave us fat, sick, and fatigued.

Whole-fat dairy without added sugars can be highly nutritious, yet. Milk, butter, heavy cream and ghee all provide essential micronutrients including CLA, vitamin A, lactoferrin lysozyme and yes – calcium!

Many dairy products are Keto-friendly because they’re low in carbohydrates while rich in both fats and proteins.

What If You Cannot Consume Dairy Products?

Those unable to consume dairy aren’t alone – many other people suffer from intolerance as well.

Studies indicate that an estimated 65% of individuals are lactose intolerant (lactose is milk sugar.) Additionally, many others cannot tolerate milk proteins like whey or casein.

One small group is allergic to dairy; for these individuals, even trace amounts can trigger life-threatening anaphylaxis reactions.

Beyond intolerance or allergy, dairy may also be avoided for other reasons:

As part of your efforts to manage cholesterol, or perhaps because you find the taste unpleasant, or simply cannot stomach dairy for other reasons, dairy alternatives still contain calcium that you need for good health. Here are nondairy sources of calcium.

Which nondairy foods contain high concentrations of calcium? Here is the short version: edible bones, seeds and green vegetables are high sources.

Next is the extended version.

Without dairy? Try including these 20 Non-Dairy Calcium Sources in Your Diet.

Canned sardines with bones (325 mg per 3 oz), sesame seeds (280 mg per oz), soy beans cooked (262 mg per cup), sesame seeds (280 mg per oz) sesame seeds (276 mg per oz), soybeans, cooked (262 mg per cup), spinach cooked 240 mg per cup) oatmeal (234 mg per cup), canned pink salmon (181 mg per 3 oz), broccoli cooked 180 mg per cup), molasses (135 mg per tablespoon), molasses (135 mg per tablespoon), Arugula raw (125 mg per cup); Chard cooked 100 mg per cup); Acorn squash (90 mg per cup); Turnip greens Boiled 99 mg per 1/2 Cup (99 mg per 1/2 Cup), Kale cooked (94 mg per Cup); Almonds 80 mg per oz; Dandelion Greens 80 mg per Cup) Chia seeds 76 mg per tablespoon), Bok Choy Raw (74 mg per cup), Canned Pinto beans 54 mg per 1/2 Cup)Kiwi(50 mg per cup).
However, not all calcium sources can be equally absorbed.

Calcium Bioavailability Bioavailability refers to the percentage of an element (like calcium) absorbed through our gut and used or stored by our bodies. Unfortunately, most of the calcium we consume goes unabsorbed into our systems.

Dairy calcium has an estimated bioavailability of 40%; spinach calcium only accounts for 5%.

Some compounds (like vitamin D ) enhance calcium bioavailability while others (phytates, oxalates and plant-based antinutrients) may decrease it.

Cooking also influences this metric; for instance, cooked spinach typically has lower oxalate levels than raw spinach, making more calcium bioavailable to the body.

Due to multiple influences that affect calcium’s bioavailability, tracking it may seem complex. So let’s make this easier by providing some helpful guidelines.

Food sources of calcium that are the most bioavailable are edible bones (canned fish) and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and kale; other plant-based calcium sources (nuts, spinach beans etc) are less preferable.

Should You Supplement Calcium? Before deciding whether or not to take calcium supplements, first identify your daily calcium consumption by tracking meals over several days using Carb Manager app and viewing your status report.

Adults require about one gram of calcium daily for healthy bones and teeth. Are you meeting this target? If not, add more calcium-rich foods into your daily diet.

Calcium supplements may help. But dairy calcium alone may not suffice; that’s where calcium supplements come in handy.

Calcium supplements (but not dietary calcium) have become a controversial topic due to being linked with increased heart disease risk.

Consuming too much calcium at one time increases soft tissue calcification, leading to arterial calcification – something which could harm the heart.

Your best way to address this risk is by eating reasonable portions (200-400 mg) of bone meal powder with meals, rather than taking an expensive jumbo pill that could increase serum calcium. Eating bone meal mimics how we obtain calcium through our food sources.

Finding Calcium Without Dairy
Although you can get enough calcium from nondairy sources, doing it without dairy requires effort and may necessitate supplements.

Although this effort may take more time, the rewards are well worth your efforts: having a sturdy skeleton is essential to being an independent individual.