“Guess you like a little coffee in your milk,” I teased Joyce, who used to drink her coffee black.
“This is the only way I can think of to get extra calcium in my diet since I don’t like drinking milk,” she said. “I’m trying to avoid taking calcium supplements, and with early, early menopause (Joyce is always 29), the risk of osteoporosis is greater. But what I don’t get is how bones are formed in fish, and they don’t drink milk!”
She also wondered why the risk of bone disease in North America is greater than in other cultures, like Japan, where they don’t consume dairy products. “How could that be?” she asked.
The answer is simple. Although milk and dairy products may be known as the elixir for bone building, there are many sources of calcium-rich foods, and calcium plays a variety of roles in our health.
Foods that contain about 300 mg of calcium per serving include:
1 cup milk or fortified plant beverage (soy, rice, almond)
3/4 cup yogurt
2 oz. cheese
1/2 cup tofu (set with calcium)
6 pieces canned sardines, with bones
1/2 can salmon, with bones
Foods with 100 to 200 mg of calcium:
1 cup beans (baked, navy)
1/4 cup almonds
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup milk pudding
1 cup Bok choy, Rapini, or Swiss chard, cooked
1/2 cup Collard greens or spinach, cooked
Calcium is the largest mineral found in our body. Its many roles include:
Forming and maintaining strong bones and teeth
Controlling muscle contraction (along with magnesium, boron, Vitamin D)
Encouraging muscle growth
Regulating heart beat and nerve impulses
Neutralizing acids and maintaining proper pH throughout the body
The body fluids of healthy people have a mildly high, alkaline pH level. Some scientists believe that body fluids that have a low pH (acidic) indicate health issues. Since calcium is responsible for maintaining the proper body fluid pH, high-protein foods that contain sulphur break down to sulphuric acid in the body. This creates an acidic environment. This causes some calcium to leach from the bones to neutralize the pH level in the blood. (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1995, 61 (4).
So, people on a high-meat diet can lose calcium in the urine. That can eventually solidify into kidney stones. As well, a diet high in animal protein might play a role in increasing one’s risk of osteoporosis. A Harvard study which followed more than 85,000 nurses for over a decade found those who ate more animal protein had a significantly increased risk of forearm fracture. On the other hand, plant-based protein diets did not significantly increase fracture risks.
“Could there be a connection to too much protein and a higher rate of bone fracture, then?” asked Maggie, intently listening to our conversation while slurping her protein smoothie.
More studies would have to be done to see if there is a correlation to a very high protein diet and weaker bones. But to answer Joyce’s question abut bones and fish: Fish are very active, eat other fish and/or plantation, get lots of vitamin D from algea and their risk of hip fracture is zero — we think.
Always confer with your physician to develop thebest strategy for your health needs.
Victoria Mikhail is a local dietitian/nutritionist and author of The Athlete Can Cook. Check out her website: www.spicedwithnutrition.ca.