Don’t you hate going to Cracker Barrel and not being able to order anything but a biscuit and a slice of ham? Don’t you hate having breakfast in a hotel when all you can eat is dry cereal?
It’s hard for us non-dairy eaters! It’s even harder for us to obtain the calcium our body needs. I haven’t had milk or any dairy product at all since I was a baby. The strange thing is, I’m not lactose intolerant. I simply don’t like it. The thought of milk, cheese, butter or cream grosses me out. But I’ll eat it if it’s cooked or baked into something. I love cookies and brownies because I can’t taste the dairy!
My bones have probably gotten weaker since my calcium intake is lower than usual. So I made a list of non-dairy foods enriched with calcium, and I do my best to eat at least one serving at each meal.
Here’s my list (in order of amount of calcium from high to low):
- Collard greens
- Black-eyed peas
- Firm tofu (with calcium sulfate)
- Calcium-fortified orange juice
- Blackstrap molasses
- Baked beans
- Kale
- Chinese cabbage
- Oranges
- Almonds
- Sesame seeds
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Swiss chard
- Brazil nuts
- Fish (especially salmon, sardines, mackerel with bones)
- Dark green leafy vegetables
- Soybeans, lentils, lima and black beans
- Grains
- Seafood (shrimp, oysters)
- Seeds
So whether you’re lactose intolerant or dairy-phobic like me, or you just want to try new sources of calcium, add some of these to your shopping list!
