From: kja@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (krista.j.anderson)
Subject: Re: Quitting milk, another reason (was: winning argument w/meat eater)
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1992 22:24:34 GMT

Hah!  I'm ready for the milk-bashers this time, pre-written for a
moment like this:
Call me neurotic, call me obsessed, but I just can't resist talking
about calcium and protein.  Ok, there is evidence that too
much protein can deplete people's calcium.  So, how much is too
much, I wonder.  Or, more obsessively, what is the nutritionally
correct ratio of calcium to protein?  So, even though I don't think
the details of calcium and protein interactions are known, I tried
to estimate some "safe" numbers.  The phosphorus column can
probably be ignored.

(for the meats below, the 1 lb is the raw weight, but the chicken
weight after cooking and deboning is much less; I included meats
since they are undoubtedly the genuine culprit in the "too much
protein per calcium" problem)

Food             mgCalcium  mgPhos Calc-Phos  gmProt    mgCalc/gmProt
1 c. oatmeal          20    178                 6          3.33
1 c. br rice(dry)     64    432                14.8        4.32
1 c. skim milk       302    247      55         8.35      36.17
1 oz cheddar         204    145      59         7.06      28.90
1 oz Swiss           272                        8.1       33.58
1 c. dry cot ch       46    151                25          1.84
1 c. 1% cot ch       138                       28          4.93
1/2 c. prtskim ricot 337                       14.1       23.90
1 oz cream cheese     23                        2.1       10.95
1 egg                 28     90                 6.07       4.61 
1 orange              52     18      34         1.23      42.28
1 c. orange juice     27     42                 1.74      15.52
1 apple               10     10                  .27      37.04
1 lb steak            42    652                71           .59
1 lb chicken,lt       13    189                20.4         .64
1 lb haddock         104    894                83          1.25
1 c. asparagus        30     84                 3.4        8.82
1 c. lentils          50    238                15.6        3.21
1 c. dry garbanzos   300    662                41          7.32
1 c. kale            206     64     142         5         41.20
1 c. spinach          51     28      23         1.8       28.33
1 c. turnip greens   267     54     213         3.2       83.44
1 c. swiss chard     106     35      71         2.6       40.77
1 c. collards        220     57     163         3.9       56.41
1 c. broccoli        136     96      40         4.8       28.33
1 c. green beans      62     48      14         2.1       29.52
1 c. bruss sprouts    50    112                 6.5        7.69
1 c. celery           47     34      13         1.1       42.73
1 c. cabbage          49     29      20         1.3       37.69
10 dried figs        269    128     141         5.7       47.19
half cantaloupe       28     45                 2.34      11.97
corn                   5    127                 5.3         .94
-----------------------------------

Since the exact "ideal" ratio of calcium to protein is not known, 
let's at least calculate an acceptable ratio.
I'll use my own calorie limit for maintenance as a sample, and the
10% of calories from protein rule, and the RDA for calcium for an
adult of 800 mg.  (Children need 1200 mg.)

   0. 14 Kcal/lb/day * 125 lbs = 1750 Kcal/day
   1. 1750 Kcalories per day x 10% calories from protein = 175 Kcal/day
   2. 175 Kcal/day / 4 Kcal per gram of protein = 43.75 gm protein/day
   3. 800 mg Calcium/day / 43.75 gm protein/day = 18.29 mgCa/gmProt
(Just for interest, 175 Kcal / 9 Kcal/gm oil = 19.44 gm oil/day)

So, probably any food over 18.29 mgCa/gmProt is an acceptable
source of calcium, if the amount of calcium is also high to begin 
with, and assuming meat isn't eaten.  Naturally there are many
other reasons for eating or not eating various foods.

In the chart above, note that the orange juice given is not the
fortified kind; specific brands may differ.  Also, I don't know
what they do to cottage cheese, cream cheese and Neufchatel to ruin
them; for me, part-skim ricotta or feta may be better than cottage
cheese despite the greater amount of fat, I think, or maybe I'll
match them 1 for 1 in my next spanokopita, blintzes, etc.
Nowadays, I think there are ricottas with even lower fat, but it
would pay to check the labels.  As for the many cheeses that I
didn't list, most follow the pattern of the cheddar and Swiss.
However, gouda had a low calcium/protein ratio but edam was high;
feta was high; parmesan was high, romano not so high; brie was very
low; camembert was still acceptable.

For the fruits and vegetables, I generally listed a selection of
those that *do* have good calcium.  Grains and beans are not good
sources of calcium, but of course remain good sources for other
nutrients.
Newsgroups: rec.food.veg