Hopefully by now everyone in America has at least visited the US Department of Agriculture Pyramid site.  It truly is a great resource of information.  We encourage our clients to use the site to create a baseline eating guide.  Unfortunately the site is a little behind the curve in regards to the latest research on animal based calcium.  Thus they promote dairy products as the primary source of calcium, when in fact Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) found “the most healthful calcium sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes” – neither of which come from a mammal.

Here’s what the research shows:
1. Diets with a higher dairy product consumption are associated with increased fracture risk.
2. Those consuming the highest amounts of dairy see a risk increase of almost double for hip fracture versus those with the lowest dairy intakes.

Swiss chard, kale, broccoli and brussel sprouts are four easy to prepare foods that are rich in calcium.  You can check their percentages at Nutrition Data just remember the vitamins, minerals and other phytonutrients found in whole foods are more powerful than fractionated supplements and “enriched” products.