Not All Calcium-Rich Foods are Created Equal
Many foods contain calcium. In addition to milk and other milk products, plant foods like dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans and fortified foods also contain this mineral. While some of these foods boast an impressive calcium content, you might not actually be getting as much calcium from them as you think. Why? Because the body does not absorb calcium from all foods in equal amounts. The degree to which vitamins and minerals in food can be absorbed and used by the body is called "bioavailability." In this article, we'll look at how the calcium bioavailability of various foods impacts the amount of calcium that makes its way into your bones.
What is bioavailability?
Simply put, bioavailability refers to the amount of a nutrient actually absorbed and used by your body. For calcium, this represents the amount of calcium incorporated into your bones. The amount of calcium you consume is much less important than the amount actually absorbed and used by your body.
What's important to know is that different foods have different levels of calcium bioavailability. This is because other components in the food either help or hinder calcium absorption. For example, in addition to calcium, milk also contains vitamin D and lactose, two components that contribute to calcium absorption. Plant sources of calcium, however, tend to contain substances that prevent your body from fully absorbing calcium. These substances, including oxalates and phytates, bind to calcium to form salt complexes that the body can't dissolve, which decreases the amount of calcium that your body can use.
For example, rhubarb appears to be one of the best plant sources of calcium, as it contains 348 mg per cup, while milk contains 300 mg per cup. However, even though cup per cup this vegetable contains more calcium than milk, you would have to eat more than 4 cups of rhubarb for your body to absorb as much calcium as it would get from a single cup of milk. This is because your body can absorb 32.1% of the calcium in milk but only 8.5% of the calcium in rhubarb.
It is also important to understand that our daily recommended intake (known as a Dietary Reference Intake or DRI) for calcium was determined based on the actual calcium content of food, assuming a 30% to 40% absorption rate. Since the body absorbs over 30% of the calcium in milk products, these are an ideal food choice to meet your daily calcium requirements.
The calcium in some fortified foods, like breads and cereals with added vitamins and minerals, can be absorbed by the body at about the same rate as the calcium in milk, meaning that the body makes good use of the calcium that these foods contain. But since these foods often don’t contain as much calcium as milk, you may not be maximizing your total calcium absorption if you rely on these products alone for your calcium intake. For liquid products like soy beverages, the added calcium tends to settle at the bottom of the carton, and studies have shown that even vigorous shaking of the container may not redistribute the calcium effectively.
Although the concept of bioavailability may seem complex, you simply need to remember that replacing milk and milk products with calcium-equivalent foods can have a negative effect on your overall nutrition. In fact, getting your calcium from non-milk sources instead of dairy products can also reduce your intake of protein, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, D, B2 (riboflavin) and B12.
The table below shows the calcium content of various foods, the percentage absorbed by your body, and the number of servings you would have to eat to match the calcium absorbed from one cup of milk.
Equivalencies of bioavailable calcium
|
Food |
Serving size |
Average calcium content (mg) |
Estimated absorption (%) |
Calcium absorbed (mg) |
Servings required to equal 250 mL (1 cup) of milk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk products | |||||
| Milk or yogurt, whole, 2%, 1%, skim | 250 mL (1 cup) | 300 | 32.1 | 96 | 1.0 |
| Cheddar cheese | 42 g | 303 | 32.1 | 97 | 1.0 |
| Vegetables | |||||
| Bok choy | 125 mL (½ cup) | 79 | 53.8 | 43 | 2.3 |
| Kale | 125 mL (½ cup) | 61 | 49.3 | 30 | 3.2 |
| Chinese spinach | 125 mL (½ cup) | 347 | 8.4 | 29 | 3.3 |
| Broccoli | 125 mL (½ cup) | 35 | 61 | 22 | 4.5 |
| Rhubarb | 125 mL (½ cup) | 174 | 8.5 | 10 | 9.5 |
| Spinach | 125 mL (½ cup) | 115 | 5.1 | 6 | 16.3 |
| Nuts and seeds | |||||
| Almonds | 125 mL (½ cup) | 206 | 21.0 | 43 | 2.3 |
| Sesame seeds | 125 mL (½ cup) | 89 | 21.0 | 19 | 5.3 |
| Legumes | |||||
| Beans, white | 110 g | 113 | 21.8 | 25 | 3.9 |
| Beans, pinto | 86 g | 45 | 26.7 | 12 | 8.1 |
| Beans, red | 172 g | 41 | 24.4 | 10 | 9.7 |
| Breads and cereals | |||||
| Whole wheat bread | 28 g (1 slice) | 20 | 82.0 | 17 | 5.8 |
| Wheat bran cereal | 28 g | 20 | 38.0 | 8 | 12.8 |
| Fortified foods | |||||
| Bread with calcium sulfate | 17 g (1 slice) | 300 | 43.0 | 129 | 0.74 |
| Orange juice with calcium citrate malate | 250 mL (1 cup) | 300 | 36.3 | 109 | 0.88 |
| Tofu, calcium-set | 126 g | 258 | 31.0 | 80 | 1.2 |
| Soy beverage (fortified with tricalcium phosphate) | 250 mL (1 cup) | 300 | 24.0 | 72 | 1.3 |
| Soy beverage (fortified with calcium carbonate) | 250 mL (1 cup) | 300 | 21.1 | 63 | 1.5 |
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