A summary from the Vegetarian Resource Group on calcium in vegetarian/vegan diets (To be continued, of course - in the ongoing search for truth through research, etc.):

[vndpg.org]

Sorry, the link is from the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietary Practice Group, not Vegetarian Resource Group.

Not into the tofu or cream of wheat. hat is the article stating exactly? That vegans have less calcium?

We need calcium I know, but if you take too much it calcifies the pineal gland I heard that.

coconutcream Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not into the tofu or cream of wheat. hat is the
> article stating exactly? That vegans have less
> calcium?
>
> We need calcium I know, but if you take too much
> it calcifies the pineal gland I heard that.

I think the important point is that we can't assume we're getting enough calcium just because we're vegans. We can get enough, but it's not an automatic thing.

Also, there was info around for a long time about animal protein causing calcium to be leeched from the bones. That's possibly not the case, but especially it's not true for plant-based protein.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 10:36AM by suncloud.

How do cows or monkeys handle this calcium conundrum?

Another question. When I was pregnant, my teeth really suffered. Really bad. Was my body leeching calcium from my teeth and bones? They feel alright now.They just got really soft and I ate a date , bit into a pit by accident and chipped it.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/26/2015 10:48AM by coconutcream.

Quote

Another question. When I was pregnant, my teeth really suffered. Really bad. Was my body leeching calcium from my teeth and bones? They feel alright now.They just got really soft and I ate a date , bit into a pit by accident and chipped it.

That does sound like a malnutrition problem. What kind of diet were you eating at the time?

People can sometimes go for long periods Of time on deficient diets and not show any symptoms, but if they get pregnant the problems show up very soon because now their diet needs to provide enough nutrition for two.

suncloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A summary from the Vegetarian Resource Group on
> calcium in vegetarian/vegan diets (To be
> continued, of course - in the ongoing search for
> truth through research, etc.):
>
> [vndpg.org]?
> utm_source=VN+DPG+Members&utm_campaign=467832c137-
> &utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9209d8a7e7-467832c137
> -39074229

Thanks, Suncloud. This is important information.

I have been making Marcus Rothkrantz's Aloe/Nopales smoothies for the last few days and, as I keep track of my nutrition on Cronometer.com, I can report that (according to them) the lb. of nopales I use in that smoothie each day has 743 mg of calcium, 235 mg of magnesium, 1,165 mg of potassium and 17% of my Lysine RDA for the day, etc. - all packed into a mere 72 calorie serving!!!

Calcium problems may not have anything to do with calcium. For example, acidity can weaken/disolve the teeth if not careful. Lack of intake of aminoacids like lysine or arginine can also negatively affect the teeth because those aminoacids help keep the saliva alkaline or something to do with the bacteria. Protein also affects the bone turnover.

Good for you SueZ. I am happy that you are doing that. LIke I mentioned before, drinking about a pound of nopal smoothie daily for about a week really started to heal my gums and teeth, because of the calcium content. I could feel the circulation to my gums and teeth. It might be different for different people, depending on their calcium levels. Plus, I was using bigger leaves. Not sure if bigger leaves means more calcium or if the leaves are alll the same, no matter how small or big they are. Nopal is my go to, when I need to strengthen my teeth, plus fresh comfrey from the garden and a variety of herbs. There are other edible cacti that I feel are very high in minerals.

Nopal is also sold as a powder, for those wanting the calcium that way.

Coconutcream: my mother lost one or two teeth during her first pregnancy. She was forced to take calcium supplements, so she wouldn't lose anymore during that pregnancy. I also have a teacher who said she took a variety of calcium supplements over the years, including coral calcium, and she never got osteoporosis or arthritis, whereas her whole family suffers from those conditions. She said the only thing different that she did was to take a calcium supplement with complementary minerals for bone health. Raw living calcium is the best, but sometimes just a calcium supplement is better than nothing. Panchito makes a good point, too, and there are other minerals that are important too for bones, like silica.

Thank you, Tai. I remember you saying nopales were very high in calcium but not the rest. I did dehydrate a chopped up lb. of them and used them directly in the VitaMix and they tasted just as good as fresh to me. Where I am they are less than half the cost to buy them whole with thorns so that's what I'm doing. 99 cents a lb.

Powdering dehydrated napales would make it just as easy for parents to hide them in kid's food (if the kids don't care for them), as powdering other dehydrated greens works for that.

Another tip for calcium intake - Red Desert clay. They say on the label that a t. has 20% RDA as I recall.

THANK YOU TAI