I don’t drink milk – how can I get enough calcium from food?

I am a 58-year-old woman and I no longer take calcium tablets because I have had two attacks of urolithiasis. The last one was a 7 mm stone, which was removed by scoping. The doctor forbade eating calcium and trying vitamin C-containing products for three months. That’s what I did and there have been no seizures. What worries me is where I get the calcium my bones need. I don’t drink milk because it prevents iron absorption. I eat about 2–4 slices of cheese for breakfast.

The expert answers

It is primarily recommended to secure CALCIUM intake by eating foods containing calcium. If this is not possible, a calcium preparation is taken to help. The preparations are not recommended for general use because when using them, the total intake of calcium often becomes too high.

Excessive intake of any nutrient, including calcium, is not recommended. The recommended calcium intake for adults, not pregnant women, is 800 mg per day.

The recommendation is fulfilled by consuming 5–6 dl of liquid dairy products and 2–3 slices of cheese. Instead of liquid milk products, you can use plant-based products supplemented with calcium – and preferably also iodine – such as oat, soy and almond drinks or yogurt-type products.

If the questioner uses only cheeses from the above-mentioned products, a sufficient amount of calcium can be obtained from approximately 90 grams of cheese that is planed. The amount corresponds to 5–9 slices, depending on the thickness of the slice.

Calcium weakens the absorption of iron if food containing it is consumed together with food containing iron. An interval of at least two hours ensures that both calcium and iron can be absorbed.

It should be mentioned that large amounts of vitamin C can also increase the formation of urinary stones. Clearly too much can be obtained when using vitamin C preparations. It is difficult to get too large amounts of food.

This article has appeared in Hyvä tervey magazine. As a subscriber, you can read all issues free of charge digilehdet.fi service.