I am always asked a lot where I get my calcium from and I usually say: from dark green leafy vegetables (DGLV), which is where I think I get most of my calcium from. However, I am not really sure how much DGLV actually contribute. I do eat a lot of them, but I don't necessarily eat them every day.
Also, most vegetarian and vegan food recommendation rely a lot on calcium fortified foods, which I don't eat in general. On the other hand, there is a little bit of calcium in most plant-based foods, so it would surprise me if one couldn't get enough calcium from just eating healthy HiFi Foods.
To get a better idea, I ran a little test. I recorded my food intake for on arbitrary day to see whether I actually get the recommended 700mg of calcium a day.
If you want to do the same thing, which I recommend, use this to find out about the calcium content of your food.
So here is what I ate on Wednesday the 30th of October 2013
breakfast (I have breakfast habits that are peculiar to some people):
pea soup - 500g of green peas (120mg),
salt, chili, black pepper, water
lunch:
200g of grapes (20mg)
2 bananas (20mg)
150g cashews (50mg)
250g dates (150mg)
dinner:
100g kale (100mg)
200g broccolli (100mg)
2 tblsp flax (50mg)
2 tblsp sesame (70mg)
4 tblsp nutritional yeast (0mg)
1 cup omega thrice-cream (mango and walnuts, 30mg)
Calcium (sum): 710mg
Conclusion: I have to say that I pulled out some high calcium foods for dinner, because I felt that I might not make the 700mg and even with those foods I barely made it. Here is what I have learned from this little study:
(1) calcium is something you really need to pay attention to.
(2) If you eat a high fruit diet, fruit (dates, bananas, grapes, oranges) do significantly contribute to your calcium intake.
(3) Nuts are quite high in calcium
(4) My main sources of omega-3 fatty acids (flax, walnuts) are also very high in calcium, so there is a double reason to eat them
(5) Sesame is very high in calcium - a few spoons here and there gives you a significant calcium boost