What should my daily calcium intake be?

daily-calcium-intake-abloomnova.net_-1600x1067 What should my daily calcium intake be?

Recent studies show that the majority of the population in the UK are calcium deficient. If you’re wondering what your daily calcium intake should be, read on and see how much you are getting in your diet on a day to day basis.

Firstly, the recommended amounts for a daily calcium intake are:

MenDaily RDADaily upper limit
19-50 years1,000 mg2,500 mg
51-70 years1,000 mg2,000 mg
71 and older1,200 mg2,000 mg
WomenDaily RDADaily upper limit
19-50 years1,000 mg2,500 mg
51 and older1,200 mg2,000 mg

As you can see, there’s some leeway as to how much you take, but reaching the daily upper limit and over could result in hypercalcaemia, or high blood calcium levels, which can a very serious condition. Hypercalcaemia can be easily rectified with an intravenous drip and a change in diet. However, if it goes untreated, could result in death.

Hypocalcaemia – or low blood calcium levels – are also not advise, but perhaps not as easily dangerous as high levels. If you are suffering from this condition, you will see a few symptoms of this, mainly externally – hair loss, broken skin, failure or slowness in healing and general tiredness.

Because of this, it is important to stick to the guidelines when it comes to your daily calcium intake. Here’s a list of foods that are some good sources of calcium:

Food

Tofu

Wakame

Almonds

Cress

Figs, dried

White beans

Sardines in oil, canned

Custard made with milk,

Ice cream, vanilla

Pudding, vanilla

Rice pudding

Hard cheese

Fresh cheese

Soft cheese

Feta

Mozzarella

Cream cheese

Milk, semi-skimmed

Milk, skimmed

Milk, whole

Portion size

120 g

100 g

30 g

120g

60g

200g cooked

60g

120g

100g

120g

200g

30g

200g

0g

60g

60g

30g

200ml

200ml

200ml

Calcium amount

126mg

150mg

75mg

188mg

96mg

132mg

240mg

111mg

124mg

120mg

210mg

240mg

138mg

240mg

270mg

242mg

180mg

240mg

244mg

236mg

If it is difficult to rely on your diet for getting the right levels of calcium, you can rely on calcium supplements to help. There are different products available, and it’s best to try and see which works best for you. But calcium is at its most effective when taken regularly in small amounts. Calcium supplements are normally taken three times a day around mealtimes, and work in around 500mg doses.

 

Leave a Reply

abloomnova
This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies.