Calcium sources / milk problems - I need a milk-testing strategy!

[TigerLilea]

I was advised to take supplementary calcium, which I did, in the form of calcium citrate. But then I read that it ends up in your arteries and raises your risk of heart attack (and recently, dementia). So I stopped and asked an NHS dietician for dietary calcium sources, but the main ones aren't much use for me because they trigger migraines.

Sasha, calcium supplements are only a problem if you don't take them with either Vitamin D3 and/or magnesium. The calcium needs one of these other supplements to take the calcium up into the bone. Otherwise very little goes to the bone and most of it ends up as deposits in the arteries.

 

[alicec]

Leafy greens don't contain enough calcium to make much difference.

Not necessarily. The high oxalate forms like spinach don't provide much calcium because it is bound to oxalate, but low oxalate greens, such as kale, mustard, collard and turnip greens, watercress, do. Here is a study showing that more calcium is absorbed from kale than from milk.

If you can't find food sources of calcium that you can tolerate then I think it is fine to supplement, just don't overdo it and ensure you have enough of the things that help with absorption and/or regulate where calcium ends up - viz vit K2, vit D, magnesium, trace minerals especially boron.

Here is an article from Chris Kesser which sums up the issues. He does advocate dietary sources if possible but the take home message is that around 600 mg calcium daily is more than enough.

 

[TigerLilea]

You can get enough calcium from your diet if you eat a variety of leafy greens, broccoli, seafood, canned salmon (eat the bones), sardines, lentils, oranges, figs, and almonds. I'm sure there are more calcium rich foods if you do a quick google search.

 

[Little Bluestem]

When my bone scan showed osteopenia/osteoporosis, my doctor recommended OsteoPrev by Orthomolecular Products. It contains only 250 mg calcium along with a dozen other minerals and vitamins needed to get the calcium into your bones instead of your arteries. It does contain folic acid, so if you are avoiding that, you will need to take the components individually.

 

[Sasha]

Not necessarily. The high oxalate forms like spinach don't provide much calcium because it is bound to oxalate, but low oxalate greens, such as kale, mustard, collard and turnip greens, watercress, do. Here is a study showing that more calcium is absorbed from kale than from milk.

The problem is that those kind of studies compare per-gram absorption and you just can't eat the weights of greens to get a comparable dose as you would with milk.

Here is an article from Chris Kesser which sums up the issues. He does advocate dietary sources if possible but the take home message is that around 600 mg calcium daily is more than enough.

Thanks - I'll take a look at that.

 

[Sasha]

You can get enough calcium from your diet if you eat a variety of leafy greens, broccoli, seafood, canned salmon (eat the bones), sardines, lentils, oranges, figs, and almonds. I'm sure there are more calcium rich foods if you do a quick google search.

That's a list of migraine foods, pretty much. This is why I'm having to focus on milk.

I actually went to a dietician to try to find foods that I could eat (that wouldn't trigger migraines) to provide enough calcium, and there aren't any.

 

[Loachi]

That's a list of migraine foods, pretty much. This is why I'm having to focus on milk.

I discovered I have osteoporosis 3 years ago. Never used milk in my life, even as a child.
So when I started to drink milk, it really upset my intestines. Thus milk intolerance.
But then I discoverd MilkFEFIR , i'ts kinda yoghurt but with way more microbio in it.
By starting low and build up , I really improved the tolerance.
Benefit is you can make it at home, without the youghurt making machine, and it's loaded with probiotics.
( Probiotics from some make lactase to digest lactose, and others who make vit-K )
Just try to find the real one with the caulifower like grains.
There are fake Kefir powders to start with but they just contains 3 probio strains or so.