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Top Food Sources for Calcium and Vitamin D

To keep your bones strong, your body is constantly breaking down old bone cells and growing new ones, just as it sheds and replaces skin cells. To fuel bone growth, keep bone density strong, and prevent osteoporosis, you need a good supply of calcium from dairy products and other foods in your diet.

But you also need enough vitamin D. Without it, you could drink milk all day long and the calcium in it wouldn't do you much good. Vitamin D is key in absorbing calcium from the food you eat -- calcium that would otherwise get sent out of the body as waste.

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Along with weight-bearing exercise, calcium and vitamin D go together for good bone density -- and good health in general. Here's some advice on how to get more calcium and vitamin D in your diet.

Food Sources of Calcium and Vitamin D

Your body doesn't make calcium on its own. The best way to get more calcium is to improve your diet. You already know that dairy products -- such as milk, cheese, and yogurt -- are good sources of calcium. Other foods that are high in calcium include:

Spinach
Kale
Okra
Collards
Soy beans
White beans
Some fish, like sardines, salmon, perch, and rainbow trout
Foods that are calcium fortified, such as some orange juice, oatmeal, and breakfast cereal

It's a lot harder to get enough vitamin D from foods. Vitamin D is only in a few foods and often in very small amounts. Foods that provide vitamin D include:

Fatty fish (like tuna, mackerel, and salmon)
Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals
Beef liver
Cheese
Egg yolks

Getting enough vitamin D from your diet isn't easy. Studies show that only about 20% of our vitamin D typically comes from the foods we eat.

Your body can also make vitamin D on its own. When you walk out into the sunlight with exposed skin, your body naturally produces vitamin D on its own.

How to Get Enough Calcium and Vitamin D

How much calcium and vitamin D do you need? The Institute of Medicine has released the following guidelines:

Calcium

Young children 1-3 years old should get 700 milligrams (mg) per day.
Children 4-8 years old should get 1,000 mg per day.
Children 9-18 years old should get 1,300 mg of calcium a day.
Adults up to age 70 should get 1,000 mg per day. Women 51 and over should get 1,200 mg/day.
Women and men 71 and over should get 1,200 mg per day.

How does this translate into your daily diet? A 45-year-old could easily get her recommended 1,000 mg of calcium daily by eating: