Calcium-Rich Foods: Best Sources and Daily Amounts

Plain yogurt has the most calcium of everyday foods: 8 ounces of low-fat yogurt has 415 mg, about a third of the 1,300 mg Daily Value¹. Milk, cheese, canned sardines and salmon with bones, calcium-set tofu and fortified soy milk or juice each give 180-350 mg per serving¹.

Most adults need 1,000-1,200 mg a day¹. Three or four servings from this list reach that without a supplement. Our calcium page covers dosing and benefits; this guide covers food.

Dairy foods and canned fish with bones lead the list, and the US Department of Agriculture data behind the NIH tables shows the amounts per normal serving¹. In the United States, about 72% of calcium intake comes from dairy products and foods with dairy ingredients¹.

• Yogurt, plain, low fat, 8 ounces: 415 mg (32% of the Daily Value)¹. A cup (8 fluid ounces) weighs a little more and holds 448 mg, and a cup of plain nonfat yogurt holds 488 mg^{2, 3}.
• Mozzarella, part skim, 1.5 ounces: 333 mg (26%)¹.
• Sardines, canned in oil, with bones, 3 ounces: 325 mg (25%)¹.
• Milk, nonfat, 1 cup: 299 mg (23%). Whole milk has 276 mg, because the more fat a dairy food has, the less calcium it holds¹.
• Kefir, plain, low fat, 1 cup: 317 mg⁴.
• Buttermilk, low fat, 1 cup: 284 mg⁴.
• Salmon, pink, canned, with bones, 3 ounces: 181 mg (14%)¹.
• Cottage cheese, 1% milk fat, 1 cup: 138 mg (11%)¹.

Canned fish only counts when the soft bones are in the can: 3 ounces of canned pink salmon has 181 mg with its bones¹, but about 51 mg once the skin and bones are removed⁵.

What one food is highest in calcium?

Among ordinary foods, plain yogurt, then part-skim mozzarella, canned sardines with bones and milk¹. Tofu set with calcium sulfate can match them: the NIH table lists 253 mg for ½ cup of firm tofu, and the Dietary Guidelines list 434 mg for ½ cup of regular tofu^{1, 4}. Tofu made without a calcium salt has little calcium, so check the label for one, such as calcium sulfate¹.

Fortified drinks and calcium-set tofu are the strongest non-dairy sources, and several leafy greens contribute meaningfully¹. Foods giving 20% or more of the Daily Value count as high sources¹.

• Almond drink, unsweetened, fortified, 1 cup: 442 mg⁴.
• Orange juice, calcium fortified, 1 cup: 349 mg (27%)¹.
• Soy milk, calcium fortified, 1 cup: 299 mg (23%)¹.
• Soybeans, cooked, ½ cup: 131 mg (10%)¹.
• Chia seeds, 1 tablespoon: 76 mg (6%)¹.
• Tahini (sesame paste), 1 tablespoon: 64 mg for the most common type, made from roasted kernels⁶. The Dietary Guidelines list gives 154 mg, which matches the USDA entry for sesame butter paste^{4, 7}.
• Beans, pinto, canned, ½ cup: 54 mg (4%)¹.

Which vegetables have the most calcium?

Cooked greens lead: collard greens give 268 mg per cooked cup, bok choy 185 mg and turnip greens 197 mg⁴. Kale gives 94 mg per cooked cup in the NIH table and 177 mg in the Dietary Guidelines list, which draw on different versions of the USDA data^{1, 4}. Raw broccoli (½ cup) has only 21 mg¹.

Cooked greens beat raw ones per cup because cooking shrinks them: 1 cup of raw chopped kale has 24 mg¹.

Which fruit is full of calcium?

None of the common whole fruits is. A medium apple has 10 mg, and the only fruit product above 300 mg is calcium-fortified juice: 349 mg for orange juice and 350 mg for grapefruit juice per cup^{1, 4}. Fortified juice is a calcium source, not a reason to drink more juice.

What drink is high in calcium?

Milk, kefir, fortified soy and almond drinks, and fortified juices each give 280-440 mg per cup^{1, 4}. Calcium-rich mineral water also works. In a study of 9 young women, water with 467 mg of calcium per liter was absorbed as well as milk: 23.8% against 25.0%⁸. A meta-analysis of 4 studies reached a similar conclusion, with small samples⁹.

About 30% of the calcium in dairy products and fortified foods is absorbed, and plants vary widely¹. Oxalic acid and phytic acid bind calcium into salts that the gut cannot absorb¹.

• Spinach: about 5% absorbed, against 27% for milk¹.
• Other high-oxalate foods: collard greens, sweet potatoes, rhubarb and beans¹.
• Broccoli, kale and cabbage: absorbed about as well as milk, but a serving holds much less calcium¹.

When you eat a varied diet, oxalate and phytate probably matter little in practice¹. So treat spinach as a minor source, and count kale, bok choy and broccoli at face value.

What depletes calcium in your body?

Low vitamin D status reduces absorption more than caffeine or phosphorus does: vitamin D is required for active calcium absorption in the gut¹. Caffeine and phosphorus reduce net absorption only slightly¹. After menopause, lower estrogen reduces absorption and raises calcium loss in urine, and women lose about 1% of bone mineral density a year¹. See our pages on vitamin D and menopause.

A blood test is a poor guide to your intake. The body keeps blood calcium in a narrow range by drawing on bone, so blood levels do not reflect calcium status, while a bone density scan reflects long-term status¹. Low blood calcium usually comes from low vitamin D or magnesium, parathyroid problems or certain medicines. It may cause no symptoms, especially when mild or long-term; when it does, the most common are numbness around the mouth, tingling in the hands and feet, and muscle spasms¹. High blood calcium is rare in healthy people, usually has a medical cause, and can bring constipation, nausea, fatigue and heart rhythm problems¹.

Aim for the Recommended Dietary Allowance for your age, not the 1,300 mg Daily Value on labels¹. The Daily Value is a single label reference for everyone aged 4 and over¹.

• Children 1-3: 700 mg a day. Ages 4-8: 1,000 mg¹.
• Ages 9-18, including pregnancy and breastfeeding: 1,300 mg¹.
• Adults 19-50, including pregnancy and breastfeeding: 1,000 mg¹.
• Women 51-70: 1,200 mg. Men 51-70: 1,000 mg¹.
• Everyone over 70: 1,200 mg¹.

Pregnancy does not raise the adult allowance, so the same food list applies¹. For related pregnancy needs, see pregnancy support.

A sample day with dairy

Using the NIH serving values, this day totals about 1,300 mg¹:

• Breakfast: 8 ounces of plain low-fat yogurt (415 mg).
• Lunch: 3 ounces of canned salmon with bones (181 mg) and 1 cup of raw bok choy (74 mg).
• Dinner: ½ cup of firm tofu set with calcium sulfate (253 mg) and 1 cup of cooked kale (94 mg).
• Drink: 1 cup of calcium-fortified soy milk (299 mg).

A sample day without dairy

Using the same table, this day totals about 1,150 mg¹: 1 cup of fortified soy milk (299 mg), 1 cup of fortified orange juice (349 mg), ½ cup of firm tofu set with calcium sulfate (253 mg), 1 cup of raw bok choy (74 mg), 1 tablespoon of chia seeds (76 mg) and 1 cup of cooked kale (94 mg). Fortified products carry most of that total, which is why the NIH notes that people avoiding dairy typically need fortified foods or supplements to reach the recommended amounts¹.

Lactose-free dairy has the same calcium as regular dairy¹. In adults, neither lactose nor lactase deficiency meaningfully changes calcium absorption, according to a 2019 review¹⁰. If you are lactose intolerant, see our page on lactose intolerance.

Food calcium helps a little, and the evidence for fracture prevention is thinner than the advice suggests. A meta-analysis of 59 trials in adults over 50 included 15 trials of calcium from food (1,533 people), in which more dietary calcium raised bone mineral density by 0.6-1.0% at the hip and whole body after 1 year, and by 0.7-1.8% at 2 years¹¹. In its 51 supplement trials (12,257 people), supplements raised it by 0.7-1.8%, and the authors judged both effects too small and non-progressive to lower fracture risk meaningfully¹¹.

A companion systematic review found only 2 trials of dietary calcium and fracture (262 people), plus 44 cohort studies where most found no link between calcium intake and fracture¹². Our study summaries cover the bone density review and the fracture review.

What about dairy specifically?

A meta-analysis of 10 cohort and 8 case-control studies found that, in the cohort studies, the highest intake of yogurt (relative risk 0.75) and cheese (0.68) went with a lower hip fracture risk, but milk (0.91, confidence interval 0.74-1.12) and total dairy (1.02) did not¹³. These are observational findings, so they cannot show that dairy itself was protective.

Do vegans have more fractures?

In the EPIC-Oxford cohort, 1,982 vegans had a hip fracture risk 2.31 times that of meat eaters over an average 17.6 years of follow-up, and the gap remained after adjusting for dietary calcium and protein¹⁴. Lower calcium intake was not the whole explanation, and the authors called for more research on vegan bone health¹⁴.

For the bigger picture, see our pages on osteoporosis, bone mineral density and bone health, and the calcium for bone health evidence.

No. Food calcium is linked to fewer kidney stones, probably because more calcium in the diet lowers the amount of oxalate passed in urine¹⁵. In 45,619 men followed for 4 years, those in the top fifth for dietary calcium had a 34% lower stone risk than the bottom fifth after adjustment (relative risk 0.66)¹⁵.

The finding held in a later analysis of three cohorts of men and women (5,270 stones). Calcium from non-dairy foods carried relative risks of 0.71, 0.82 and 0.74 across the three cohorts, and dairy calcium 0.77, 0.83 and 0.76¹⁶. See kidney stones for more.

Supplements are a different case. The upper limit, 2,500 mg a day for ages 19-50 and 2,000 mg after 50 (3,000 mg for ages 9-18), counts calcium from food, drinks and supplements together¹⁷. It was based on kidney stones in the Women's Health Initiative trial¹. In that trial, 36,282 women aged 50-79 took 1,000 mg of calcium plus 400 IU of vitamin D a day or a placebo for an average of 7 years, and stones were 17% more common with the supplements (449 women against 381)¹⁸.

Later reviews split. One, of 10 studies lasting up to 3 years in more than 8,000 people with osteoporosis, found no significant rise in kidney stones¹⁹. A 2018 review for the US Preventive Services Task Force found more kidney stones with calcium plus vitamin D, although the absolute increase was small, at 0.33 percentage points, while three small trials of calcium alone showed no increase²⁰.

On the heart, a 2016 review of 4 trials and 27 observational studies found that calcium intake within the upper limit was not associated with cardiovascular risk in generally healthy adults²¹. The evidence on supplements is less settled: the NIH also describes a meta-analysis of 14 trials in 28,935 healthy postmenopausal women in which 500-2,000 mg a day of supplemental calcium raised cardiovascular risk by 15%¹.

When your usual diet averages well under your age's allowance and you cannot close the gap with food. The NIH says needs should be met mainly from food, with supplements for people who cannot manage it, especially at certain life stages¹. Postmenopausal women and people who avoid dairy are among the groups most likely to fall short¹.

• Take only the gap. If food gives 700 mg and you need 1,000 mg, a 300 mg supplement covers it. The body absorbs about 36% of a 300 mg dose and 28% of a 1,000 mg dose¹.
• Keep doses to 500 mg or less at once. Absorption is highest at that size¹.
• Calcium carbonate is 40% elemental calcium and citrate 21%. Read the elemental amount on the label¹.

Our calcium page covers forms and dosing, and magnesium and phosphorus are the minerals that work with it in bone. Our guide to taking vitamin D with vitamin K covers the vitamins, and the potassium food guide has the same food-first approach for another mineral.

Calcium supplements can block absorption of some medicines. The NIH lists levothyroxine (keep 4 hours from calcium carbonate), quinolone antibiotics (keep at least 2 hours apart) and dolutegravir (2 hours before or 6 hours after calcium)¹. Taking lithium with calcium supplements could raise the risk of high blood calcium¹.

Labels can be stricter, and some cover calcium-rich food and drink too. Ciprofloxacin's label says to take it at least 2 hours before or 6 hours after products containing calcium, and not with milk, yogurt or calcium-fortified juice alone, although a meal that contains them is fine²². The osteoporosis drug alendronate must be taken with plain water only, at least 30 minutes before the day's first food, drink or other medicine, calcium and mineral water included²³.

Supplements in this guide

• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Magnesium

We read the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements calcium fact sheets, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans calcium food list, USDA FoodData Central entries and the FDA labels for ciprofloxacin and alendronate, and we searched PubMed for meta-analyses, trials and cohort studies on food calcium, bone, kidney stones, heart outcomes and absorption. We read 13 journal records and cited all of them, and we prioritised systematic reviews, large trials and large cohorts in adults. Each food amount was checked against the NIH table, the Dietary Guidelines list or FoodData Central.

What the evidence cannot tell us: no trial shows that calcium from food prevents fractures, and the dairy and vegan findings are observational. Food amounts differ between USDA data entries and between products, so check labels. Last updated 14 October 2026.

1. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Calcium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/
2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Yogurt, plain, low fat (SR Legacy, FDC ID 170886). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170886/nutrients
3. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Yogurt, plain, skim milk (SR Legacy, FDC ID 170887). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170887/nutrients
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Food Sources of Calcium, Standard Portions (data from USDA FoodData Central). https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/2024-08/Food-Sources-Calcium-Standard-508C.pdf
5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Fish, salmon, pink, canned, drained solids, without skin and bones (SR Legacy, FDC ID 173724). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173724/nutrients
6. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Seeds, sesame butter, tahini, from roasted and toasted kernels (most common type) (SR Legacy, FDC ID 170189). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170189/nutrients
7. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Seeds, sesame butter, paste (SR Legacy, FDC ID 170191). https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170191/nutrients
8. Couzy F, et al. Calcium bioavailability from a calcium- and sulfate-rich mineral water, compared with milk, in young adult women. Am J Clin Nutr. 1995;62(6):1239-44. doi:10.1093/ajcn/62.6.1239
9. Bohmer H, et al. Calcium supplementation with calcium-rich mineral waters: a systematic review and meta-analysis of its bioavailability. Osteoporos Int. 2000;11(11):938-43. doi:10.1007/s001980070032
10. Hodges JK, et al. Lactose Intolerance and Bone Health: The Challenge of Ensuring Adequate Calcium Intake. Nutrients. 2019;11(4). doi:10.3390/nu11040718
11. Tai V, et al. Calcium intake and bone mineral density: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ. 2015;351:h4183. doi:10.1136/bmj.h4183 Our study summary.
12. Bolland MJ, et al. Calcium intake and risk of fracture: systematic review. BMJ. 2015;351:h4580. doi:10.1136/bmj.h4580 Our study summary.
13. Bian S, et al. Dairy product consumption and risk of hip fracture: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(1):165. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5041-5
14. Tong TYN, et al. Vegetarian and vegan diets and risks of total and site-specific fractures: results from the prospective EPIC-Oxford study. BMC Med. 2020;18(1):353. doi:10.1186/s12916-020-01815-3
15. Curhan GC, et al. A prospective study of dietary calcium and other nutrients and the risk of symptomatic kidney stones. N Engl J Med. 1993;328(12):833-8. doi:10.1056/NEJM199303253281203
16. Taylor EN, et al. Dietary calcium from dairy and nondairy sources, and risk of symptomatic kidney stones. J Urol. 2013;190(4):1255-9. doi:10.1016/j.juro.2013.03.074
17. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Calcium: Fact Sheet for Consumers. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-Consumer/
18. Wallace RB, et al. Urinary tract stone occurrence in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) randomized clinical trial of calcium and vitamin D supplements. Am J Clin Nutr. 2011;94(1):270-7. doi:10.3945/ajcn.110.003350
19. Candelas G, et al. Calcium supplementation and kidney stone risk in osteoporosis: a systematic literature review. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2012;30(6):954-61. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23137489/
20. Kahwati LC, et al. Vitamin D, Calcium, or Combined Supplementation for the Primary Prevention of Fractures in Community-Dwelling Adults: Evidence Report and Systematic Review for the US Preventive Services Task Force. JAMA. 2018;319(15):1600-1612. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.21640
21. Chung M, et al. Calcium Intake and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med. 2016;165(12):856-866. doi:10.7326/M16-1165
22. U.S. National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. CIPRO (ciprofloxacin) tablets: prescribing information. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=888dc7f9-ad9c-4c00-8d50-8ddfd9bd27c0
23. U.S. National Library of Medicine, DailyMed. FOSAMAX (alendronate sodium) tablets: prescribing information. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=14e931fd-2c5f-4d90-b7db-5980706f4a56