Many of us are trying to get most of our calcium from foods, but we may have trouble finding the calcium amounts, on our favorite foods, or new things we would like to try that are calcium-rich.

Getting adequate amounts of calcium throughout the day can be difficult, if you are lactose intolerant, have trouble with absorption of minerals or can't eat some of the things listed as calcium-rich, for other health reasons.  Those who've had kidney stones, gallbladder issues or arterial plaque, need to watch the amount and type of calcium consumed.  Also, check to see if you are taking anything that interferes with calciums' absorption.

For those who have absorption problems, they should discuss with their doctor, which food items have the highest absorption rate, and you can look up your foods that are easily absorbed, at the World's Healthiest Foods web site.

We are told that our bodies can't absorb more than 500 milligrams of calcium per serving, so keep this in mind when trying to include the amounts you need and calculating them.

I prefer to get most, if not all, my calcium through diet, and at one point I was hypercalcemic (high blood calcium) and we never found out the cause-or so we thought.  My doctor finally decided I was taking too much calcium when she totaled my calcium through foods and supplements.  Of course, I was told to take 1,200 mgs of calcium a day, but it never occurred to me or the doctor advising this, to add my dietary intake first.  Due to this large intake of calcium, that may have lead to being hypercalcemic, which is now resolved.  So be careful with calcium-loading, it can be very dangerous.  Be sure to calculate your calcium from all sources so you'll know exactly what you're getting.

The following chart is a list of foods that are calcium-rich, from the USDA food database on calcium content in foods.  If you need to avoid dairy, you can look for the non-dairy items-in the database-and use those.  I picked the foods with the highest amounts of calcium to compile this chart, so it's up to you if you want to use these suggestions.  These foods may not be the most popular, but they are high in calcium and you can get great recipes for all at our FoodFit site here at HealthCentral.  This site was developed by the Undersecretary of Agriculture.  To find recipes, put any of the items below in the web sites search box, and it will give you many suggestions for recipes with these foods.