Eating Vegan: Calcium

Barriers to Calcium Absorption

There are several factors that can thwart your efforts to get sufficient calcium:

• Certain foods. Animal protein, caffiene, and salt can block your body’s calcium absorption or leach calcium from your bones.
• Cigarettes. Smoking inhibits calcium absorption.
• Lack of exercise. Weight bearing exercise, like walking, running, and weight training, helps your bones retain calcium.
• Insufficient vitamin D and magnesium. Vitamin D and magnesium both help our bodies properly absorb calcium. You can get vitamin D through sun exposure and magnesium from healthy foods like beans.

Dairy products contain high amounts of animal protein, so while they offer high amounts of calcium, dairy is actually not the best source of this nutrient.

Have you guys had to answer the calcium question? How did you handle it? I think it’s really important when folks ask us about veganism that we assume they’re genuinely curious and not trying to poke holes in our lifestyle choices. That’s tough to remember sometimes, but I think it can make a big difference in how those conversations go.

Image Credits:
Kale Salad. Creative Commons photo by ilovemypit
Black Beans. Creative Commons photo by kaptainkobold
Woman Drinking Milk. Creative Commons photo by ToriMBC

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