The topic of vegan is extensive and covers several dietary things, commitments, and tips & tricks to follow. Staying positive and informed is essential to following a plant-based diet with perfection. You must have come across useful information on the best vegan protein sources, food to include, savoring crunchy quinoa puffs or seeds, and know numerous recipes.
Another imperative thing to know is the best calcium-rich vegan food sources in your diet. Here, we let you know the best calcium plant-based items to include in everyday patterns and nutritional facts. But before we get started, let’s break the myth of diary products being the only source of calcium.
For years, there has been a misconception spread among people about calcium-rich vegan foods. As per several advertisements and word-of-mouth discussions, it has been speculated that milk and other dairy products are the only sources of calcium. Most people recommend everyone to consume the desired quantity of milk every day and consume fresh dairy products to stay efficient on calcium intake.
The truth of the matter is that you do not just require dairy items and milk to receive an adequate amount of calcium. There is an extensive list of calcium-rich vegan food sources available for people to stay healthy and energetic.
Calcium is an imperative nutritional element for having healthy bones throughout life. It is necessary to build muscles and nerves along with making the same strong. Even medical experts suggest that you should consume the combination of calcium with Vitamin D vegan source to attain several health benefits and protection against diabetes, high blood pressure, heart-related issues, and more.
Blackstrap molasses tops the chart in our list of best calcium-rich food sources for vegans, . It is a thick syrup that is made from the sugarcane through a multiple times boiling process. After boing a few times, the nutritional value of blackstrap molasses increases to an optimum extent. It becomes more healthy and superior to refined sugar. It contains a 95% daily value of calcium that is sure to meet your requirements. Moreover, it also contains 45.5% of Vitamin B6, 130.5% of Manganese, 118.8% of Magnesium, 25.4% of Selenium, 61.1% of Potassium, 19% of Iron, and more.
Soybeans are excellent plant-based protein source. It covers various options like tofu, tempeh, and more. Apart from the protein, soybeans products are best meant to consume the much-required calcium and low carbohydrates. It is imperative to include any fermented or processed form of soybeans in your diet to make healthy snacks and favorable meals.
Calcium-rich foods are not confined to fruits, veggies, seeds, etc. Even several varieties of sea plants are rich in calcium and meet your daily dietary requirements. You can include certain types of seaweed in your meal pattern to get the required calcium intake along with other nutrients. Include them in your salads or make low-calorie snacks while combining other vegan ingredients.
Seeds, especially the butter made out of them provide the desired quantity of calcium as per the daily value requirement. You can make tahini which is a butter made from sesame seeds and contains 130 mg of calcium from 2 tablespoons or 30ml of the quantity. On the other side, flaxseeds butter provides 2% of the RDI from 20 grams of quantity. Both are followed by chia and flax seeds butter that contains enough calcium and is best to team up with plantain tostones or any other vegan snack.
Dark green leafy vegetables are rich in calcium and delectable to add to a vegan diet pattern. You can include spinach, mustard, turnip, bok choy, and collard greens that provide around 84 to 142 mg of calcium out of 1/2 cup or 70-95 grams of the food source quantity. You can include other calcium-filled green vegetables like okra, kale, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
Almost all types of nuts provide the essential intake of calcium. Almonds top the list by providing 97mg of calcium per 1/4 cup (35 grams). Followed by this, brazil nuts are also rich in calcium content and comprise 6% of the RDI in 1/4 cup of 35 grams of nuts. Apart from that, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and pistachios contain calcium content inside. Moreover, consuming nuts will help you attain other nutritional intakes like magnesium, potassium, copper, Vitamin B, selenium, Vitamin E, and K.
Some varieties of naturally sweet fruits are not behind in terms of the required calcium content inside. You can include raw figs as part of your vegan snacks that provide you 18 mg of calcium and that too per fig quantity. Oranges are another high-calcium food from which you can get 48-65mg of calcium. Blackcurrants (65mg) and blackberries (32-44mg) of calcium content are sure to make you include them in your vegan diet pattern.
Grains are not generally a rich source of calcium. Still, some varieties offer you the minimal quantity to team up with other ingredients. For instance, teff and amaranth are two gluten-free healthy, and protein-rich grains that also contain 12% to 15% of the RDI of calcium. You can make several snacks and dishes by using the two grains.
Chickpea is a complete nutritional ingredient for all the people looking for a vegan source of protein, healthy fats, carbs, and calcium. Not just this, but any kind of bean is healthy for you and must include in salads, wraps, burritos, or prepare as vegan bowls. Several types of beans offer different DV of calcium like a black bean (6.9%), winged bean (14.2%), white bean (7.3%), navy bean (6.9%), kidney bean (5.7%), pinto bean (6.3%), and lentils (1.9%).
Although, the mushroom is not a direct source of calcium. But equally important to consume for the seamless absorption of calcium and getting enough Vitamin D. Most people suffer from Vitamin D deficiency due to less exposure to sunlight or not being able to be under the sun due to extremely high temperatures.
A pioneer food source like mushroom provides the required Vitamin D and further maximizes calcium absorption with ease. Some of the particular types of mushrooms you can consume are brown mushrooms with 319% daily value, maitake mushrooms (280%), Portobello mushrooms (250%), or white mushrooms (262%).
Some vegan food sources are not naturally rich in calcium content. However, after processing the required amount of calcium added to the foodstuff. One such food item is cereals that offer a high calcium intake while included in your breakfast. Cereals with fortified milk types like almond milk, coconut milk, etc., raise your calcium intake in a hassle-free manner. Moreover, the combination of cereals with plant-based milk can provide you with up to 83% of the required calcium as a daily value.
Just like dairy products are one of the leading sources of calcium, similarly, plant-based milk options are also rich in calcium content. You can lay your hands on almond milk, soy milk, and other fortified milk varieties to meet the desired nutrition level. Apart from that, certain fruit juices also contain calcium and must include in the vegan diet pattern.
Different types of plant-based milk and juices comprise different percentages of daily value calcium. It includes pea milk (20%), almond milk (18%), oat milk (15%), orange juice (14%), hemp milk (12.5%), and V8 vegetable juice (12%), and rice milk (6.3%).
Very few people know about several vegan pieces of bread containing calcium inside. Like mission flour tortillas (16), edamame paste (23.5%), corn tortillas (15%), bagels (10.5%), pita bread (12.5%), whole wheat bread (9.3%), and other varieties of bread contain different calcium levels. It means you can make your favorite vegan-rich wraps, burritos, sandwiches, and other healthy snacks by using calcium-rich bread.
Soy yogurt is an ideal alternative to dairy yogurt and comprises more plant-based protein content. It further contains bio-available calcium inside to meet the daily value requirements with ease. Live bacterial cultures derived straight from plant sources are added to the soy yogurt and make it calcium-rich in content. Also, different varieties of soy yogurt offer different levels of calcium content and must also contain the required amount of Vitamin D inside.
Many of you consider vegan energy bars as simply the ideal source of plant-based protein that you consume any time of the day. Several varieties of vegan energy bars comprise calcium content inside. It is the presence of fortified milk content inside the energy bars that ultimately provides you calcium nutrition with ease.
The detailed information mentioned above must have broken the notion of only consuming dairy products for getting optimum calcium. There is an extensive list of calcium-rich vegan food sources to include in your diet and stay on a nutritious spree.
Add distinctive plant-based calcium ingredients to make your favorite choice of drinks, healthy snacks, and meals. Do not forget to lay hands on crunchy snacks as quinoa pops from Ojas Vegan to team up with different meals.
