Smart Ways To Eat More High-Calcium, Dairy-Free Foods

FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: three to five servings a week


Check out fortified orange juice and soya  milk Some contain as much calcium as a glass of skimmed milk, but be sure to read the label so you know how much you're getting. Don't shortchange yourself by thinking your juice or milk has more calcium than it really does. Shake soya milk well before pouring; the calcium added to it can settle to the bottom.
Go for 'green calcium' Yes, there is calcium in as in dairy foods, though. You'd have to eat 200g of cooked kale, 400g of cooked broccoli or 1.44kg of cooked spinach to equal the calcium in a glass of skimmed milk. Think of calcium-rich veggies as a nice add-on that can help you to reach your calcium goal and provides a range of minerals and vitamins. The best vegetable sources of calcium include kale, broccoli, spinach, pak choi and almonds.
Eat more rhubarb It takes a creative took to figure out how to get more rhubarb into your diet, but it's worth it. Use 240g of cooked rhubarb and you get 348mg of calcium, making it one of nature's top sources of the mineral. Only the stalks of a rhubarb plant are edible, and they are quite tart. That's why rhubarb is primarily paired with sweet fruits in breads, cakes, crumbles, pies and ice cream.
Nibble on dried figs  A serving of ten dried figs provides 269mg of calcium, a wonderfully large amount.
Some tofu counts, too Tofu made with calcium sulphate (check for it on the ingredients label) supplies a respectable 204mg of calcium in a 125g serving.
Eat more beans As we've said, beans are an anti-ageing superfood, and here's one more reason: they're good sources of calcium.
And have nuts and seeds, too Calcium can be found in healthy amounts in Brazil nuts,hazelnuts, chestnuts, sesame seeds, tahini (sesame seed paste), sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. A good idea: keep a canister of your favourite seeds on your kitchen table and add a teaspoon as a topping to cereals, vegetables, salads and soups.

Cooked rhubarb is one of nature's top sources of calcium

 Choice 5 Enjoy lean protein

A juicy baked chicken breast, Beef stew studded with chunks of rich, lean meat. Turkey steak with a pile of steaming vegetables. These protein-packed dishes aren't just mouthwatering: they can help you to maintain strong muscles and strong immunity, keep you feeling full for longer after you eat and deliver key vitamins and minerals that become even more important for good health as the years pass.
  You don't need more protein as you get older - but you do need to maintain your intake, and many older people don't, with the result that many are got getting as much protein and other nutrients as they need. Why? Food may seem less appetising if taste and smell sensations are blunted, dental problems may make chewing more difficult and the bother of cooking may seem simply too much. Your challenge: eating enough without getting too much heart-threatening saturated fat.
  The solution to this protein puzzle is a delicious new eating strategy - similar to the way healthy older people in Okinawa and Crete eat: put more protein such as poultry or lean beef on the table, add fish and mix in plenty of other healthy foods that fill in protein gaps, such as dairy products, nuts, beans and even some vegetables. Our modern twist? Use healthy convenience foods such as skinless, boneless chicken breasts and make easy substitutions such as choosing skinless minced turkey instead of minced beef.
  At the beginning of these session, we mentioned the key reasons why protein is so important to your diet. It provides essential body-building materials that are used to create muscle cells, bone cells, blood cells and more. And no matter what your age, your body is still generating new cells all the time. Protein also slows absorption of blood sugar, helping to keep hunger and food cravings at bay.
   Plus, lean protein is a rich source of the B vitamins that can help you to feel more energetic. Why? The Bs help to guide metabolic reactions throughout the body. And they can help to protect against heart disease by controlling levels of a compound in the bloodstream called homocysteine.
  With lean protein, you also get healthy doses of multi-talented zinc, a mineral important for maintaining strong immunity - it plays a role in the production of infection-fighting white blood cells. In one study of women and men over the age of 70, those who ate the most protein had significantly stronger bones over four years than those who are the least. Another bonus: brain-protecting nitacin. When researchers checked 3,718 people aged 65 and older, then tested their cognitive skills for six years, they found that those who go the most niacin from food were 70 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer's Vitamin B6 and niacin can also help your body to process blood sugar more efficiently.

THE PROBLEM WITH MEAT

So why does meat get such a bad health press? Two reasons First, protein and fat are closely bound together in most cuts of meat, and animal fat is among the most troublesome parts of your diet. That's
why we keep using the word 'lean' in front of protein; it's important to choose metals that are as low as possible in visible fat. Second, we tend to eat big helpings of meat. Restaurants often taunt diners with the size of their burgers or streaks or racks of ribs. This can mean as much as eight times more than a healthy serving.
  So how much protein do you need? Experts suggest 4.5g for every 10lb of body weight. Translation: if you weigh 68kg (10 stone l0lb), you need 67g daily. That's what you'd get if your day's menu looked like this:

• Cereal with 250ml skimmed milk for breakfast
• A tuna sandwich on wholemeal bread for lunch
• A medium-sized skinless chicken breast for dinner
• A cup of hot cocoa made with skimmed milk before bed

As you can see, that's not a whole lot of meat. Yet as women age, they tend to eat less and less protein. Roughly 10 to 20 percent of women aged over 55 get less than 30g of protein a day - even if they're eating plenty of food.

PROTEIN SUPERFOODS: CHICKEN, TURKEY AND LEAN BEEF

What's not to love about chicken? A roast, skinless breast has just 120 to140 calories, and it's packed with all the protein satisfaction your could ask for with less than half the fat of a trimmed T-bone steak. It's versatile - starring in everything from chicken soup at lunch to a plump, roast bird for sunday dinner. In a hurry? You can find it ready to eat virtually everywhere - in sandwiches and pasta salads (minus the mayonnaise) from takeaway shops and even ready-roasted from supermarkets.

Meat meets greens

Here are two intriguing reasons why you should always eat green vegetables with meat.

1. A mysterious component of beef - known to scientists simply as 'the meat factor' - helps your body to absorb more of the iron in vegetables.
2. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli or brussels sprouts help your body to disarm unhealthy carcinogenic compounds called heterocyclic amines that are produced when meat is grilled or chargrilled.

And turkey? This grand bird is not just for special occasions. A 115g serving of turkey breast provides 60 percent of the protein you need each day without the fat you'd get in many cuts of pork or beef. And you don't have to buy a large bird to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner. Most supermarkets offer small cuts of boneless turkey.
  As for red meats, there are more healthy choices than you might realise. Lean beef cuts such as sirloin and tenderloin are surprisingly low in fat - and their fat isn't all the artery - clogging kind. Half the fatty acids in a serving of lean beef are monounsaturated fatty acids, the same heart-healthy type found in olive oil that research shows may lower cholesterol.
  What's more, a third of the saturated fat in beef is a unique fatty acid called stearic acid, which has been found to have a neutral or cholesterol-lowering effect. A serving of beef is an excellent source of five essential nutrients: protein, zinc, vitamin B12, selenium and phosphorous and a good source of four more: niacin, vitamin B6, iron and riboflavin.
  The story is similar with pork: the tenderloin is super-lean, luscious and perfecly healthy in moderate portions.