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Calcium for kids


anothermother

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I just got back from my daughter's 10-year well child check-up. My husband and I did a whole30 for the month of October and have felt great. I started phasing things out of my kids' diet and they've been basically whole30 compliant for the past two(ish) weeks. We've all been doing great and the kids are excited to eat REAL food and I've been feeling a lot better about the lunches I'm packing for school.... All that to say I'm excited about the changes we've made. So, when the doctor asked "Is she was drinking a lot of milk and eating cheese, yogurt, anything? Orange juice???" I said we eat a wide variety of foods including a lot of calcium rich veggies. She told me we would need to eat a truckload of kale to get enough calcium and it would be a better idea to have her drink a tall glass of orange juice and eat a fortified energy bar.

I definitely don't like those options but I'm not very excited about the idea of bringing dairy back into the house. Does anyone have recommendations or a resource that would help me be sure she is getting the calcium she needs?

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I'm not sure how drinking a tall glass of orange juice would help with calcium as OJ has little, only about 2-3% of your daily requirements. Unless it's been added to it, in which case it's probably not a very bioavailable form of calcium and would do little good. Same with milk and other dairy products - most of the calcium is added during processing and is not in a very bioavailable form. Getting nutrients from whole foods is always better than getting them from processed foods where it's been artificially added. All green veggies are loaded with calcium and other minerals that are just as important to proper bone development as calcium, and in a natural, raw form that is more easily used by the body.

 

How did humanity ever survive before energy bars and multi vitamins?

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How did humanity ever survive before energy bars and multi vitamins?

Food used to be a whole lot more nutritious - these days, soils lack nutrients, produce is picked earlier, stored longer etc. farmers need to make as much as possible as quickly as possible, so something has to give - real food doesn't have the same nutritional profile it used to.

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Thank you all for replying.  I've added canned salmon into the rotation and I'm working on finding ways to disguise sardines.  ;)  Are there any other calcium power house foods?  The doc recommends 800mg/day.  I know not everyone will agree with that number but I'd like to at least aim for it.  

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There's a pretty good cheat sheet here: http://eatdrinkpaleo.com.au/paleo-diet-calcium-non-dairy-calcium-rich-foods/

 

I hate sardines (I think it's the smell, mostly), but some people seem to like them more fried. I love smoked kippers in a can, but they're boneless. 

 

I love salmon patties made with canned salmon though :D

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