Calcium is one of the most important nutrients for your health. In fact, calcium is more than any other mineral in the body.
Calcium makes up a large part of your bones and teeth and plays a role in heart health, muscle function and sending nerve messages.
The recommended daily intake (RDI) of calcium for most adults is 1,000 mg per day. But women over 50 and everyone over 70 should get 1,200 milligrams a day to protect against osteoporosis and some other related diseases.
Children aged 4 to 18 years should also consume 1300 mg of calcium daily because they are in the growing age. However, a large percentage of people do not meet their calcium needs through diet due to wrong eating habits.
The main foods rich in calcium are dairy products such as milk, cheese and yogurt. But many non-dairy sources are also rich in this mineral, which you can include in your daily diet to provide the amount of calcium your body needs.
These foods include seafood, leafy vegetables, legumes, dried fruits, and various calcium-enriched foods. In the rest of this article, you will learn about plant-based and non-dairy calcium-rich foods, as well as dairy calcium-rich foods.