# Calcium

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 17, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357 "2003-06-17T01:59:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![gypsymoth3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357/1 "2003-06-17T01:59:01Z")

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are there any foods with larger, equal, or close to equal amounts of calcium per serving as milk? one of my attempted vegan friends said milk wasn’t all that high in calicum or wasn’t the best source at least.

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357/2 "2003-06-17T02:04:30Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Among the newest specialties are ethnic greens, now becoming more widely available. In general they are an important source of calcium for vegans. Two servings (7 oz/200 g) of Chinese cabbage (bok choy, for example) provide the same amount of calcium as 1 cup (250 mL) of milk.

From [here.](http://www.mochasofa.ca/food/program/expert/01september03a.asp) Seems the milk has a somewhat higher calcium density per serving. But the cabbage wins out per ounce.

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357/3 "2003-06-17T02:05:44Z")

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Here’s a link with a sizeable list of foods and their content of calcium. Milk isn’t the highest but it is up there.

[http://www.vgh.mb.ca/hcfc.html](http://www.vgh.mb.ca/hcfc.html)

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**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357/4 "2003-06-17T03:19:32Z")

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What about when bits of egg shell get in your omlette.

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/calcium/182357/5 "2003-06-17T03:22:11Z")

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As **Whack-a-Mole’s** link shows, milk is quite high in calcium per normal serving. It also has high bioavailability of calcium. And it is a food that can easily be added to many other foods, increasing their calcium levels. There’s really no question that in the average American diet milk is by far the best source of calcium.

But vegans can still get their calcium from food alone, if they are careful. They’re helped by the rising concern that most teenagers don’t get enough calcium in their diets and marketers are now putting out calcium-fortified foods – orange juice and other drinks, cereals, breakfast foods, and many more.

And you can find bunches of web sites that talk about alternative sources of calcium.

[This page](http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/stevecarper/links.htm) has a number of links to these sites.