How Can I Increase My Calcium Naturally?

There is more calcium in the human body than any other mineral, and you store 99% of it in your teeth and bones. Increase your calcium naturally by eating calcium-rich foods like dairy products, getting adequate vitamin D, and not smoking.

Worried that you're not getting enough calcium? Good sources of calcium include dairy products, molasses, and leafy green vegetables. Along with adding calcium-rich foods to your diet, you should make sure you're getting enough vitamin D, which helps your body absorb calcium. Cut back on processed food, especially soda, which can make you lose calcium.

Read on to learn more about calcium intake.

There is more calcium in the human body than any other mineral, and you store 99% of it in your teeth and bones. Calcium gives them structure and keeps them rigid. The rest of the calcium in your body is in your blood, muscles, and the fluid between cells in other tissues.

Your body uses that stored calcium to do important jobs such as:

• moving your muscles (including your heart) 
• sending messages to and from your brain via your nerves
• releasing hormones (chemicals that control things like growth and appetite)
• moving blood through your blood vessels
• clotting your blood so wounds can heal

Your body needs a certain level of calcium in your blood and other tissues to do these jobs. However, you lose some calcium every day via sweat, urine, and feces (stool). If your body needs more calcium than you are getting from your diet, it takes it from your bones. If you aren't getting enough calcium over long periods of time, your bones can become brittle.

Your body cannot produce calcium on its own. It gets calcium from the food you eat or supplements you take. Children need calcium for their bones to grow properly, and adults also need calcium because your body is constantly reforming your bones throughout your life, absorbing old bone and forming new bone.

As you age, though, your gut doesn't absorb calcium as well. In particular, hormone changes after menopause (when women stop having a monthly cycle) make it harder for the body to absorb calcium and easier for you to lose calcium in your urine. Because of these and other factors, osteoporosis is common in older women. In this condition, the bones are so weak that they break easily, and the body has trouble repairing the breaks.

Studies show that calcium supplements don't prevent broken bones and may even have serious side effects. Your body can't absorb calcium in pill form as well as calcium from food sources. It also cannot absorb more than 500 milligrams at a time. Getting too much calcium through supplements may cause calcium deposits to build up in the blood vessels of your heart.

Multiple studies have found that people who take 1000-milligram calcium supplements are more likely to have heart attacks. Taking calcium supplements also puts you at higher risk for colon polyps (clumps of cells in the large intestine, which can develop into cancer) and kidney stones.

Choose calcium-rich foods

Getting calcium from the food you eat does not typically have any side effects. When you eat calcium in food, you're getting calcium in smaller amounts throughout the day, making it easier for your body to use it.

Get enough vitamin D

If you don't get enough vitamin D, your body can't absorb the calcium you're taking in. Your skin produces vitamin D when it's exposed to sunlight. About 15 minutes of sunlight bathing your face, hands, and arms around noon can give you about 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D. Of course, it's important to use sunscreen when you are out in the sun for long amounts of time. Taking a 2000 IU Vitamin D supplement every day can also help keep your vitamin D level where it needs to be.

Aim for a low-sodium diet

Eating too much sodium (salt) makes your body lose calcium, sometimes even pulling calcium from your bones. Cut back on processed food, which is frequently very high in sodium.

Cut back on sodas

Drinking soda is linked with lower bone density and increases the likelihood that you'll break a bone. According to one study, women who drank more than 10 sodas a week had a 42% higher risk of breaking their hip. It doesn't matter whether the soda is caffeinated or non-caffeinated or if it is sweetened with sugar or sugar-free.

Stop smoking

Everyone slowly loses bone mass as they age, but smoking speeds up the rate of bone loss. This may be because smoking keeps your body from absorbing calcium well. 

Dairy products

Milk and milk products are high in calcium, and the body is able to more easily absorb calcium from dairy products than calcium from some other foods. The amount of calcium in a serving of dairy varies widely, but here are some examples:

• Eight ounces of plain, fat-free yogurt: 488 milligrams
• One cup of low-fat (1%) milk: 305 milligrams
• Four ounces of part-skim ricotta cheese: 335 milligrams
• Four ounces of low-fat cottage cheese (2%): 105 milligrams
• One ounce of cheddar, American, or part-skim mozzarella cheese: about 200 milligrams 

Blackstrap molasses

Just one tablespoon of molasses contains 172 milligrams of calcium. Make a brown sugar substitute by mixing one cup of granulated sugar and one tablespoon of molasses. You can also use blackstrap molasses in:

• Baked beans
• Barbeque sauce
• Salad dressing 
• Marinades 
• Teriyaki
• Oatmeal
• Yogurt
• Smoothies
• Ginger snaps and other baked goods

Canned Fish

Certain kinds of fish are good sources of calcium. Sardines with bones have 325 milligrams of calcium in 3 ounces, and salmon with bones has 180 milligrams in 3 ounces.

Leafy greens 

Collard greens boast about 300 milligrams of calcium in each cup, turnip greens offer 200 milligrams per cup, and Swiss chard and kale each have 100 milligrams a cup. Other vegetables and most fruits also give you some calcium, usually somewhere between 10 and 60 milligrams per cup.

Fortified Foods

Food companies often add calcium to products like orange juice, oatmeal, and cereal. If you are allergic to cow's milk and other dairy products, you can still get some of your calcium from alternative types of milk (like almond milk), which commonly contain added calcium. Shake the container before pouring other types of milk, though, because the added calcium may settle to the bottom.

The amount of calcium you need to get from your diet depends on your age and sometimes your sex. The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is the average amount of calcium your body needs each day, which amounts to:

• Children 1 to 3 years old: 700 milligrams
• Children 4 to 8 years old: 1000 milligrams
• Preteens and teenagers 9 to 18 years old: 1300 milligrams
• Women 19 to 50 years old: 1000 milligrams
• Women over 50 years old: 1200 milligrams
• Men 19 to 70 years old: 1000 milligrams
• Men over 70 years old: 1200 milligrams