Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [25]
In this section, I help you understand your calcium requirements, and I tell you how, as a vegan, you can successfully meet those requirements. I round out the section by discussing calcium’s role in the important acid-alkaline ratio in the body.
Boning up on calcium requirements
Most nutrition guidelines recommend getting between 800 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day, mostly from dairy products. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines state that to avoid osteoporosis and grow healthy bones, these levels must be reached. However, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, healthy bones can be maintained with a daily consumption of 600 milligrams a day. And the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends between 400 and 500 milligrams daily, which is half of the U.S. recommended dietary allowance.
When paired with a healthy nonsmoking lifestyle, regular weight-bearing exercise, and healthy levels of vitamins D and K, the body can build and maintain healthy bones on a sensible vegan diet.
Never heard of vitamin K? That’s because it’s so easy to get all you need from natural foods that people rarely worry about it. Vitamin K helps blood to clot, protects bones, and prevents cell damage from oxidation. If you find yourself bruising and bleeding easily or having liver, gallbladder, or digestive system problems, you may need more vitamin K. Good sources are spinach, Brussels sprouts, carrots, green beans, peas, broccoli, kale, and asparagus.
The truth about dairy products
The dairy industry has a lot of money and has been influencing the government, the American public, and health organizations to believe that their products are necessary for good health for decades. But the story doesn’t hold up. If we eat more dairy products than most countries on the planet, why do we have some of the highest osteoporosis rates? There’s clearly more to the story. To truly build strong, healthy bones and avoid other major health problems, green leafy veggies, which are often lacking in the average American’s diet, are better sources of calcium than dairy products.
To prove my point, consider the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study that was published in 2003. This study followed more than 72,000 women for 18 years and found no link between increased milk consumption and risk of fractures. On a similar note, in his groundbreaking research project, The China Study, Dr. T. Colin Campbell showed that the vast majority of the population of China consumes no dairy products. Instead, these people get their calcium from mostly plant-based sources, including green leafy vegetables.
American women have one of the highest rates of hip fracture in the world. The only other countries with higher rates — a few Northern European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand — actually eat more dairy than we do. On the other hand, Chinese women have much lower osteoporosis and hip fracture rates, and they eat no dairy. Instead, these women get their calcium from leafy green veggies, tofu, and other natural foods like nuts and seeds.
Seeking out calcium in vegan foods
Since you won’t be consuming dairy products to reach your daily calcium requirements, you may be wondering what foods you should eat. Don’t worry. You have tons of wonderful, natural vegan foods available to you that will ensure you have enough calcium in your diet. Just be sure to eat a variety of the foods in Table 4-1 on a regular basis.
Spinach, amaranth, rhubarb, chard, and beet greens, which may seem like good sources of calcium, all contain oxalic acid, which can bind with calcium and reduce its absorption. These foods are healthy in general, but they shouldn’t be considered good sources of calcium because they can cause the body to lose as much calcium as it gains. Other greens like kale, broccoli, mustard greens, and bok choy are better calcium choices.
Table 4-1 Vegan Sources