What to Eat When You're Pregnant and Vegetarian : Other essential vitamins and minerals (part 4) - Vitamin E, Calcium

Calcium

What it’s for: Calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. It also regulates muscle contraction and is needed for normal blood clotting.

Amount needed: Before and during pregnancy you need 700mg of calcium per day. This increases to 1,250mg per day for breastfeeding. To help your body absorb calcium, it’s important to have enough vitamin D. Vegetarians who drink milk and have milk products such as cheese and yogurt every day usually consume plenty of calcium. However, research has shown that vegans have substantially lower intakes of calcium than other individuals. A large study, which included more than 1,000 vegans living in the UK, found that 76% of them had calcium intakes below the recommended 700mg. Far fewer meat-eaters (15%) and lacto-ovo-vegetarians (18%) had such low intakes. This same study, known as EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition) found that the fracture rate was 30% higher for vegans than for meat-eaters.

Where it’s found: Calcium is found in milk and dairy products and also in a variety of leafy green vegetables. Humans absorb about 30% of the calcium they consume, and how much you get from a particular meal depends on a variety of factors. Absorption is reduced in foods containing oxalic acid (including spinach, collard greens and rhubarb) and phytic acid (wholegrain cereals, beans and seeds) as these compounds bind to the calcium, so it carries on moving through the digestive tract and out. There was speculation that phosphate, which is found in fizzy drinks, also reduces calcium absorption, but recent research suggests that the link between fizzy drinks and lower bone mineral levels is due to people drinking them instead of milk.

The best sources of calcium for vegans include almonds, sesame seeds, tofu containing calcium chloride (E509), low-oxalic-acid leafy vegetables, and fortified foods. Almond butter may be better than whole almonds, as crushing the nuts makes the calcium more accessible, otherwise pieces of nut can pass through undigested. Likewise, tahini may be better than whole sesame seeds. Fortified foods can also make a huge difference to calcium intake, including milk alternatives and some bread. But remember to read the label, as products may look almost identical but one will have added calcium and not the other. If you usually drink rice milk or organic soya milk, check the label, as it probably doesn’t have calcium added.