Anna asked about calcium-rich food sources and calcium requirements.

Joy's list of CA.-rich foods was great.  Thanks, Joy.

Caution about the parsley, though, as it is a lactation suppressant.

I, too, advise my clients, who need to eliminate dairy, about the foods
high in calcium.  Unfortunately, cow's milk is so central to the American
diet that many of the good Ca.-rich foods are not easily accepted by my
clients.  The "milk covers it all" attitude that they grew up with narrows
their taste experiences.  So while they are experimenting with other foods
I recommend a Calcium/Magnesium,Zinc supplement. I recommend about 600-1000
mg a day, depending on what other foods they eat, including whether they
eat meat.  Mothers who are vegetarian need less calcium because of a lower
phosphorus intake.

I point out that as they find more Ca-rich foods to their liking they can
reduce the supplement.

For many of my clients, their diets have very little calcium other than dairy.

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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