Did You Know There Are Other Good Sources Of Calcium Besides Milk?

Written By: Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

December 31, 2021

Highlights

Why you don’t need to consume dairy in order to get your daily intake of calcium.
Calcium from other sources, including plants and animals.
Food options for people who are lactose intolerant.

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I’ve always heard growing up that milk and milk products are the best sources of calcium. Your mother also probably told you the same. But, since I was lactose intolerant from birth, milk and most dairy products have been a no for me. So as I grew older I began to explore other sources of calcium and I found out that milk is not the only good source of calcium out there.

What is Lactose intolerance?

Lactose intolerance is a condition where the body does not produce enough of the enzyme lactase to break down lactose, a type of sugar found in milk. Usually, our bodies make lactase as we grow up and continue to make it as adults. But some people don’t make enough lactase. This can cause a problem because lactose is found in all dairy products. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include stomach pain, cramping, diarrhea and bloating.

As we dig into this article, we will explore some other foods that contain high levels of calcium and see if milk is still the best one!

Milk and Dairy products

Dairy products are a great source of calcium, but they can also increase blood pressure, weight gain, and prostate cancer risk. There are many other good sources of calcium, including certain types of dark green leafy vegetables like kale or spinach, almonds, oranges, broccoli, beans, soymilk and tofu.

Dairy products are a great source of calcium, but they can also increase blood pressure, weight gain, and prostate cancer risk. Also, the milk we get is partially adulterated and is largely produced by artificially injecting the cows. The milk thus carries remnants of those chemicals and is hazardous for health in the long run. And for vegans and lactose intolerant, this option is totally out. ⁣

So, you don’t need to consume dairy in order to get your daily intake of calcium. fact, you can get plenty of calcium from other sources, including plants and animals.

Green vegetables

There are many other good sources of calcium, and certain types of dark green leaf vegetables have a lot of calcium. Broccoli has about 100mg per serving, while spinach has over 300 mg in a half cup of the vegetable.

Other good sources include kale, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, turnip greens, rhubarb and collard greens. You can get about 452mg of calcium from 1 cup of cooked kale.

Soybeans are a good source of calcium, with about 28 mg per serving. They contain over 80% of the daily recommended amount of calcium undefined
Salmon contains good levels of calcium and also omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming salmon is good for the heart, joints, bones and brain. On the other hand, it is also difficult to get a good source of protein from milk.

Nuts and seeds

Milk is not the only source of calcium. You can get calcium from many other sources, including nuts and seeds. For example, 1 cup of almonds contains about 270mg of calcium while an ounce of chia seeds has 272mg. As well as calcium, nuts and seeds also contain protein, fiber, and healthy fats which are all beneficial to your health.

Calcium builds strong bones. Some people believe that consuming dairy is the best way to build a strong body, but these simple nuts and seeds like chia or sesame are a great source of calcium. A handful of almonds or a small serving of pumpkin seeds will provide around 90mg. The best part is that they also have many other health benefits as well! They’re a great way to boost your daily intakes of certain nutrients, such as healthy fats and omega-3 fatty acids. These are essential for heart and brain health support.

150 ml of milk = 190 mg of calcium⁣
The same amount of calcium is present in ⁣
✅ 2 tbsp Sesame seeds ⁣
✅ 3 tbsp Chia seeds ⁣

Food options for people who are lactose intolerant

In addition to milk, there are other options available for people who are lactose intolerant or have a dairy allergy. These include calcium-fortified soymilk, calcium-fortified orange juice, tofu processed with calcium sulfate, and broccoli. There are many different food sources of calcium, but it will largely depend on your diet preferences. Some options include beans, broccoli, sardines, tofu, turnip greens, figs, spinach and okra.

Calcium is an essential mineral that keeps bones strong. According to the USDA, it is estimated that more than 65% of adults and children do not get enough calcium in their diets. That’s why it is recommended to take a supplement for those who can’t drink milk or other dairy products. But people who are lactose intolerant don’t have to miss out on this important nutrient. There are plenty of food sources out there that contain calcium such as yogurt, kale, beans, and oranges. It just takes a little extra planning to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients your body needs.

Conclusion

Consuming enough calcium is important for a healthy body as it helps to prevent osteoporosis. It’s possible to get calcium from other food sources besides milk, so now you have no excuse not to stay healthy!

If you’re looking for more food and nutrition tips from Infano, check out our other blogs here.

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Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin

Tasneem Akbari Kutubuddin has done her masters in Journalism & Communication and has worked as a senior journalist, editor and columnist for leading publications like The Logical Indian, Deccan Chronicle, Worldwide Media Corporation, The Bridge and Provoke.
With Infano, she hopes to create more awareness about women’s health issues. Suffering with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, she has also been advocating for its awareness through media.

How to help your teenager handle a heartbreak?

Written By: Suhani Sharma

June 6, 2021 | 09:00 AM |

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Highlights

.Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are.
.Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years.
.It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

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First of all, always enable open, friendly communication between you and your teenage son and daughter. The bridges of dialogue should not only be accessible but welcoming too. It is much healthier when your child shares their feelings with you rather than hiding them and pretending that everything is fine with them but suffering alone.

Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are. Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years. It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

Give them their space when they need it and keep a check on them and their health. The pain of the first heartbreak only heals with time. As a parent, no matter how much you try, they will take their own sweet time to grow above this miserable feeling, so your job should be to support them in the process they choose but not force your method on them.

Don’t be disrespectful towards their emotions. For them, it’s for the first time. First love and first heartbreak can be devastating for that age. They haven’t known any way better than this. When you will respect their feelings, they will learn to respect their own and others too.

Don’t disapprove of their choice. You may feel that you are comforting them by belittling their ex or you may get infuriated on seeing your child’s state and feel like abusing or ridiculing your child’s crush or partner but that will only make things worse. They will start questioning their own choice, it may also hit their confidence.

In our lives, we meet many people, like few of them, fewer of them like us back, and very few of them work out in the end. Dissing others or disrespecting others will only leave a negative impact on our mindset and heart.

In the end, the first heartbreak is a journey that your teen has to take on their own. You can just be a call-a-friend or other helplines in this adventure. Your job should be to prepare them for this journey and not being an uninvited force to pressure them to finish this journey before time and getting bruised instead.

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I am a mother to a toddler girl. And ever since she came into my life I have been dwindling every day between the thoughts of whether to keep her safe, protected from any mishaps of life or to let her explore, let her get hurt, and learn to pick herself up.

God only knows, how will I calm myself down when she will come to me crying about the heartbreak in her teens, because I know that day will come.

I remember, having gone through a major heartbreak in high school and how my elder sister took me out for a Scooty drive and told me that it’s just a phase and how I won’t even know how soon I will get over it. My ears couldn’t believe what I was hearing from her at that moment. How could she trivialise my emotions? As the years passed by and I swiftly moved on to other phases of life, I remembered her words every time. But I also know that when it was her turn for heartbreak, she couldn’t console herself with the same profound beliefs.

So, what is this sorcery where it’s easy for us to guide others through their heartache and dejection but doesn’t work on our own selves? The answer is empathy. The answer is the ability to listen.

No matter how much experience you have gained in the journey of life but when your teenager cuts themselves from you to nurse their wound, all wisdom goes on strike.

So, how to help your teenager handle a heartbreak?

And when the sharing happens, be a good listener. Many times we just want someone to listen to us wholeheartedly, even when we know that they can’t do much or when we know about the ways to sort out our issues. We are not looking for solutions or reassurance always, being heard matters a lot. After a few years of what happened between me and my sister, my younger brother came to me and confessed about him finding it tough to handle his breakup. All I did was listen to him first.

I can say from my experience that being subjected to such confessions can be quite overwhelming as you want to give them a reality check by schooling them about the realities of life but it can take a toll on their emotional health.

Be empathetic and non-judgmental. They just need to know that you care and you understand how difficult it would be for them.

Also, be an open-minded receiver, understand that generations have changed and the norms of romantic relationships too, being judgemental will only force them to hide in their cocoons.

Share your own events of life. Sharing how once in your life you thought that you could never move on to a better relationship after having a misfortune in your previous one but today you are in a much happier, evolved, and mature space.

When someone shows us that once they were in a miserable position like the one we are in at present but they could get out of it to a much better state, our mind sees it as an example, a story of hope and positivity.

Adolescence comes with a self-awareness of our body and about others, on the other hand, the world starts making us aware of their opinion of conventional aesthetics of the body too.

So, it can also be an onset of adolescents, self-judging themselves on the way they look and comparing with others. Falling for others, having a crush on someone, or feeling rejected on the basis of physical appearance may seem silly to the grownups but that’s how the teen years are. Teach them about self-esteem and self-confidence at home before the beginning of their teenage years. It is easier said than done but speaking to them kindly, appreciating them on their qualities, working with them on something which they are good at will help your child deal with rejections or heartbreak when the time comes by creating a self-loving personality.

Remember, you are the safe haven for them. When the world shows them that they are less, it is your job to make them feel enough.

Don’t be a helicopter parent

heartbrek mom of teens mothers Parenting teenager

Suhani Sharma

Suhani is a Company Secretary by education but a writer by passion. She has studied film appreciation at FTII, Pune. She is an independent blogger and has been blogging on cinema for more than seven years.

She believes in open dialogues about the taboo subjects in society and with Infano she wants to encourage its readers to have a conversation around them.