Calcium is a very important mineral in human metabolism, making up about 1-2% of an adult human’s body weight. In addition to its widely known role in bone structure, calcium is used to help control muscle and nerve function, as well as to manage acid/base balance in our blood stream.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to eat dairy foods to get the calcium you need in your meal plan. Calcium is provided by a wide variety of foods, and in order to get 1,000 milligrams per day (the Dietary Reference Intake, or DRI for women and men 19-50 years of age), you don’t need cow’s milk, yogurt, cheese or butter.
100 calories worth of spinach provides you with twice as much calcium as 100 calories worth of yogurt
113g of tofu, 2 TBS of sesame seeds, 1.5 cups of most steamed brassica greens, provide you with 1,100 milligrams of calcium, or 110% DV.
At the same time, these foods only use up 394 calories, or about 22% of an 1,800-calorie meal plan.
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