I was at a party the other day where someone claimed that milk was worthless as a source of calcium. He said that pasteurization did something to the calcium that made it nutritionally worthless. You absorb the milk’s fat, but no calcium.
Cheese, however, is a viable source of calcium, because of some other chemical change involved in its creation.
He said that milk’s popularity as a calcium source is all dairy industry propaganda.
While I certainly don’t think milk is nature’s perfect food, the calcium claims seem, to put it mildly, dubious. Does anyone have more information on this belief?
A lot of veggie-oriented sites make the claim that dairy is not a good source of calcium because protein interferes with calcium absorption. However, comparative studies have shown than dairy (including milk) has one of the best absorption rates (about 29%). The amount of calcium in dairy is so high that, unless you really overdo it on the protein in your diet you come out ahead.
The only reason that cheese would be better is that it takes a whole lot of milk to make a little cheese. However, you are usually getting a lot of fat with that, so you would be much better off with skim milk.
But if the heating process in patuerizing milk ‘inactivates’ calcium, does cooking spinach do the same thing?
And, by reading my 2000 edition of “The World Almanac”, spinach is by far the vegatable they list as high in Calcium (this is from USDA tables, I take it).
Am I supposed to eat a shit load of raw spinach a day to get the same calcium as what a dairy product provides?
Maybe it’s just me (and maybe I’m mistaken; it would be nice is I was), but raise your hand if you want to eat raw spinach every day instead of a dairy product to get your daily calcium requirement.
Collard greens are the next best vegatable according to the almanac list. Mmm…raw spinach or collard greens…everyday…
Doesn’t all of the milk in the USA have calcium and vitamin D added? Wouldn’t the these additives boost milk’s value above plain green leafy veggies?
1 cup yogurt = 415-452 mg of CA
1 cup milk = 280-347 mg of CA
2 tablespoons dry skim milk = 292 mg of CA
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese = 337 mg of CA
1/2 cup spinach = 122 mg of CA
The first suggestion for increasing CA in the diet is to add varying amounts of dry skim milk to all recipies for pancakes, bread, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and so on.
Hey,don’t forget sesame seeds!They’re much higher in calcium than spinach,pound for pound.Remember,a pound of spinach is 90% water,while a pound of sesame seeds contains enough protein and fat for several days.Not to mention calcium.
I too wouldn’t forcefeed spinach for the calcium but there are tastier alternatives.Try rosella leaves.It’s a tropical plant.
And,sorry to offend the purists,but there are always calcium tablets…
In all the absorption study reports I’ve seen, rates were lower for calcium from vegetables. The main reason is that leafy greens generally contain oxalic acid, which interferes with calcium absorption.
It would take something like five cups of spinach to equal a cup of skim milk in usable calcium. That’s fine if you are a dedicated vegetarian, but not realistic for most people.
This post is dying out–But Marcus, I actually enjoy eating raw spinach, and raw broccoli, and other greens. I really prefer to eat raw veggies as to cooked ones.
This doesn’t make me believe that I can replace my Calcium that is provided by dairy, with veggies. Or I that I have to force feed myself veggies at the expense of other foods.
Personally, I think humans are omnivores, and that means eating whatever presents itself–veggie or animal. And if that means a salad and steak are on the menu–I’m going to chow down both.
If people want to rag about animal food, they should consider and promote the fact that animal fat is souble to organic chemicals (such as pesticides), not that animals are less “nutritous”.