a follow-up on calcium daily requirements ...
Given the below more real-world daily calcium requirement of around 500 mg of
calcium cited in the Harvard Health article, this can be fairly easily met with
a vegan diet.
Good to keep in mind also that magnesium is also a very important mineral --
we require about 500 mg daily. Meeting your calcium requirements with dairy
falls far short of providing sufficient magnesium. However, meeting calcium
requirements on vegan diet will generally meet or exceed minimum magnesium
requirements.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-calcium-do-you-really-need
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/how-much-calcium-do-you-really-need
How much calcium per day is recommended? Like many women, you may have
memorized the minimum daily calcium requirement—1,000 milligrams (mg) a day for
women ages 50 and younger and 1,200 mg for women over 50—and followed it
faithfully in an effort to preserve your bones. You'll probably be surprised to
learn that many health authorities don't agree with that recommendation. Dr.
Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan
School of Public Health, thinks you're likely to do just as well on half as
much calcium.
"Essentially, I think that adults do not need 1,200 mg of calcium a day. The
World Health Organization's recommendation of 500 mg is probably about right.
The United Kingdom sets the goal at 700 mg, which is fine, too. It allows for a
little leeway," he says.
One thing the studies have taught us is that both calcium and vitamin D are
essential in building bone. The question is how much of each. Dr. Willett
recommends going lower on calcium and higher on vitamin D than the guidelines
suggest—500 to 700 mg a day of calcium and 800 to 1,000 IU of vitamin D. At
that rate, you can probably get all or most of your calcium from food,
especially if you have a serving or two of dairy products daily. If you can't
tolerate dairy, you should still be able to get 300 mg a day in your diet and
can take a low-dose calcium supplement to make up the rest. By keeping your
supplement consumption to 500 mg or less a day, you should avoid the possible
risk of heart disease and kidney stones suggested by the studies.
