Calcium is important for both you and your growing baby. Your baby needs it to grow strong, healthy bones, teeth, nerves, heart, and muscles and to develop normal heart rhythm and blood clotting. If you don't get enough calcium in your diet, the fetus will leach it from your bones, which may impair your own health later on.

All adults -- male and female -- need at least 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily, while those over 50 should boost their daily intake to 1,200 mg. Pregnant and nursing women over 18 years old also need 1,200 mg daily. Those under 18 need slightly more, about 1,300 mg a day.

Even when you're done with pregnancy and nursing, keep up the calcium -- it can ward off osteoporosis (bone loss) later in life.

The best sources of calcium, hands down, are dairy products. But there are surprising amounts of calcium in many tofu products as well as nuts, beans, and some greens. Yogurt supplies one of the best sources, with 415 mg per 8-ounce serving. Milk, ricotta cheese, and some other cheeses, are also excellent sources. You can derive quite a bit of calcium from tofu, canned salmon, and even many greens like turnip greens, broccoli, and kale.

There are some surprising ways to sneak calcium into your diet, thanks to the fact that more and more foods are being fortified with the mineral. These foods, which are usually enriched with calcium carbonate or other calcium fortifiers, are an excellent way to get the calcium you need every day, especially if you are vegan, lactose-intolerant, or just plain picky.

Read the labels to determine which brands are calcium fortified. Some good sources of calcium-enriched foods are vegetable juice, orange juice, soy milk, and some cereals, cereal bars, and frozen waffles.

Even if you're lactose intolerant, you may find you don't need to give up all dairy products. Not only are dairy products the best, most efficient source of calcium, but they are good suppliers of protein, too. Research shows that as many as half the people who have trouble digesting lactose (the sugar in milk) may tolerate up to 8 ounces of milk at mealtimes.

Here are a few ways to work dairy products into your diet, even if your body is not entirely lactose-friendly:

•Drink milk with nondairy foods. It's easier to digest when mixed with other foods.

•Eat yogurt. This can be a great alternative to milk.

•Look for lactose-reduced milk, which is more readily available than it used to be. Or you can buy enzyme supplements (lactase), which you can add to your milk to break down the lactose, making it easier to digest.

•Choose processed or hard, aged cheeses. Processed cheeses have more than half the lactose removed during processing. Hard, aged cheeses also have less lactose than softer cheeses.

•Eat smaller portions. Try drinking only 1/2 cup of milk, especially lactose-reduced milk, at a time. Spread it out, drinking the smaller amounts four times a day with meals or snacks.

A good multivitamin or prenatal vitamin should include at least 150 to 200 mg of calcium. You can also try a calcium supplement such as calcium carbonate, a type easily absorbed by the body, especially when taken with food. Or do this test: Place the supplement in a glass of warm water and stir it occasionally. Time how quickly it dissolves. If 30 minutes pass and it hasn't dissolved, try another brand.

-- Melanie Haiken, M.A., is the former health editor of Parenting magazine and specializes in health, business, and parenting issues. She has served as managing editor of San Francisco magazine and executive editor of Industry Standard magazine, and has written for Time Inc. Health, The Washington Post, and many other publications.

References

First published August 15, 2005
Last updated November 30, 2007
Copyright © 2005 Consumer Health Interactive

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