From: altar@beaufort.sfu.ca (Ted Wayn Altar)
Subject: Calcuim: Plant Sources
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 21:15:17 GMT



VI.  GOOD PLANT SOURCES OF CALCIUM:

As Thrush & Thrush (ibid) point out, the key point to maybe keep
in mind is that as long as one sensibly eats a simple but varied
and wholesome diet, calcium needs will be amply supplied since
one will utilize the available dietary calcium more efficiently.
After all, men can easily adapt to calcium intakes as low as
200 -400 mg daily (see Bogert, "NUTRITION AND PHYSICAL FITNESS,
5th edition, p. 154)

Also, taking calcium supplements has not proven to reduce the
risk of osteoporosis (G. Kolata. 1986, "How important is dietary
calcium in preventing osteoporosis?"  SCIENCE, 233, Aug1:519-20)

Still, we want to make sure that we are consuming adequate
amounts but eating quality vegetarian foods.
The following table is from Akers (A VEGETARIAN SOURCEBOOK,
1989), a general sourcebook which I highly recommend (if there is
only one book you should buy as a vegetarian, this is that one
book!):

The following table calculates nutrient density of various
foodstuffs as follows:

                     % or RDA of calcium in 100 grams of food
  nutrient density = -----------------------------------------
                     % of RDA of calories in 100 grams of food


This is really the most meaningful and useful way to assess
the nutrient value of foods.  Hence, if eat 100% of daily
caloric requirement one day by eating nothing but broccoli,
you will be consuming 805% or 8 times what the inflated RDAs
 for calcium would consider adequate!


                    TABLE 1

   Nutrient Densities Of Some Common Plant Foods,
   Relative To Rdas For Adult Woman Aged 23 To 50

VEGETABLES          CALCIUM        LEGUMES            CALCIUM
turnip greens       2196           soybean              140
watercress          1987           bean, lima           106
collards            1389           chickpea             104
kale                1175           bean, pinto           97
spinach              895           pea, green           81
broccoli             805           lentil                59
okra                 639           peanut                31
celery               574
cabbage              511           GRAINS
radish               441           oatmeal               42
cucumber             417           wheat                 39
lettuce              385           bulgur                30
squash               368           rye                   28
onion (green)        354           rice (brown)          25
turnip               325           millet                15
cauliflower          232
carrot               220           NUTS & SEEDS
pumpkin              202           sesame (whole)       515
onion (dry)         178            almond                98
tomato               148           sunflower             54
eggplant             120           pecan                 27
beet                  93           cashew                17
sweet potato          70           walnut (black)        0
mushroom              54
potato                23           FRUITS
corn                   8           lemon                241
                                   orange               209
                                   blackberry           138
                                   cherry                79
                                   blueberry             61
                                   peach                 59
                                   grape                 58
                                   pear                  33
                                   apple                 31
                                   banana                24
                                   avocado               15


Now, one always be careful with such tables.  For example,
nutrient quantities can vary tremedously within different items
of the same food.  That is why one will find different figures
for organic vs non-organic foods, or different figures for the
Amer. Dept. Agric. vs the Brit. Royal Soc. of Chemistry's UK
National Nutrient Databank (e.g., McCance & Widdowson's "The
Composition of Foods", 5th ed., 1991).  Even over time, the
quality of foods may decrease as soil conditions deteriorate or
new strains of plants are introduced to increase production with
no regard for the nutrient quality of the foodstuffs.

On note of caution.  It is not a wise procedure to try to
make some numerical calculations as to whether one is precisely
over or under RDAs for some nutrient since such a
simplistic approach fails to take into account that:

    (1) RDA's are designed for populations, not  individuals
    (margins of safety for special needs and great population
    variance results in RDA levels  that often are well beyond
    what most people actually need)
    
    (2) Individual differences in what overall foodstuffs they
    eat will greatly change nutrient need levels
    
    3) Different diets makes for different absorption rates of
    certain nutrients.  The American RDA's are based on the
    omnivorous population of that country, and are not ideally
    suited for vegetarians.  Better are the WHO figures which are
    based upon a less ethnocentric sampling of only U.S.
    citizens, whose fatty diet is much to be desired.

In general, simply treat such tables as a rough and ready
indicators, never as an exact diagnostic device to determine
whether or not one is eating enough of a certain nutrient.
Things cannot be so precisely calculated, especially for any
particular individual.

The more useful data comes from good epidemiological research on
vegetarians, which have shown them to be thriving quite well,
thank you, much better than omnivores would like to acknowledge
(see Millet et al. "Nutrient intake and vitamin status of healthy
French vegetarians and nonvegetarians" AM J CLIN NUTR 1989,
50:718).

The important thing is to eat sensibly a varied diet of good
quality foodstuffs (viz., vegetables, grains, legumes, and
fruits).  And also one should trust and become sensitive to one's
own sense of well-being.  Do you feel right after eating certain
things or not?  Do you feel better when you eliminate certain
things from your diet for certain periods of time?  Are you in
general not feeling well?   And so on.

Just for comparison purposes of plant sources with cows
milk, it might be useful to consider the following table
(from Thrash & Thrash, NUTRITION FOR VEGETARIANS, 1982)

                              TABLE 2
  (from Thrash & Thrash, NUTRITION FOR VEGETARIANS, 1982)


FOOD SOURCE        AMOUNT  CAL. PROTEIN CARB FAT SODIUM CALCIUM
                                   gm    gm   gm   mg      mg
milk
 human             1 cup   184   2.4   22.4  9.6    40     80
 cow, whole        1 cup   159   8.5   12.0  8.6   122    288
 cow, skim         1 cup    88   8.8   12.6   .2   128    289
 cow, skim, fort.  1 cup   105   9.8   13.6  1.2   142    359
                   1 cup
soy milk           1 cup
  soyagen          1 cup   146   7.3  11.0  8.5   303     72
  soyamel          1 cup   140   5.0  16.0  6.0   363    150

collards,          1 cup    58   5.4   9.8  1.2    50    304
mustard greens     1 cup    46   4.4   8.0   .8    36    278
sesame, whole      2 Tbs   125   4.1   4.8 10.9    13    258
kale               1 cup    48   4.3   7.5  1.0    94    224
oatmeal cereal,    1 cup   123   5.6  23.3  8     169    191
cream of wheat     1 cup   130   4.4  26.9  .4     96    185
soybeans,          1 cup   260  22.0  21.6 11.4     4    146
broccoli           1 cup    32   4.1  60.0  4      13    117
sunflower, kernals 2 Tbs   124   5.3   4.4 10.5     7     27

  *Note:  all vegetables, cereals and legumes here listed are
    cooked quantities ready for eating.

                                        ted
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