By Sharon Natoli, Accredited Practising Dietitian and Director of Food & Nutrition Australia
How much calcium do you need?
Your daily calcium requirements1 will vary depending on your age, gender and stage of life. The table below is a guide to how much calcium you need everyday.
Table 1:
|
Group |
Gender |
Age |
RDI* for calcium mg/day |
| Children | All | 1-3 years | 500 |
| 4-8 years | 700 | ||
| 9-11 years | 1000 | ||
| Teenagers | All | 12-18 years | 1300 |
| Adults | All | 19-30 years | 1000 |
| 31-50 years | 1000 | ||
| Men | 51-70 years | 1000 | |
| Women | 51-70 years | 1300 | |
| All | >70 years | 1300 | |
| Pregnancy/Lactation | Women | 14-18 years | 1300 |
| 19-50 years | 1000 |
*RDI = Recommended Dietary Intake.
How much calcium does Zymil contain?
A serve (1 x250ml glass) of low fat Zymil provides 312mg of calcium and the full cream variety contains 308mg. This represents a significant proportion of most people’s daily needs.
How much Zymil do I need to consume to meet my daily calcium needs?
To work out the number of serves of Zymil you need to include daily to meet your calcium needs use the following formula:
Daily calcium needs (mg) = # Serves of Zymil needed to
Amount of calcium in Zymil serve (mg) meet daily calcium needs
For example, a 45 year old woman who needs 1000mg calcium a day would need to drink 3 glasses of Zymil to meet her calcium needs.
Meeting your daily calcium needs
In general, if you have trouble digesting milk due to the lactose, 2-3 serves of lactose free dairy foods daily will be sufficient to meet your calcium requirements2. A serve is equivalent to:
- 250ml or 1 glass of lactose free milk
- 200g of lactose free yoghurt
- 40g of cheese (hard cheeses are virtually lactose free)
- 250ml or 1 glass of soy milk
If you find it difficult to include sufficient amounts of dairy foods daily, you can obtain the same amount of calcium as 1 glass of milk from the following foods:
- 1 cup of almonds
- 100g can sardines
- ½ cup of pink salmon
- 1 cup of calcium-fortified breakfast cereal
Including a variety of calcium rich foods in your daily diet will ensure you meet your daily needs, therefore helping maintain strong bones throughout life.
1. National Health and Medical Research Council, Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand including Recommended Dietary Intakes. 2006, Canberra: NHRMC.
2. National Health and Medical Research Council, Food for Health – Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults. 2003, Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra.
