Calcium-rich Foods.

When I found out last year that I am lactose intolerant my immediate thought (after hell no, no more Manchego?!) was 'but what about calcium?'.⁠ ⁠

Dairy is one of the most talked about food groups when it comes to reproductive health. ⁠ ⁠

The Nurses Health Study II began in 1989, tracking thousands of female nurses and their health over an 8 year period. The research found low-fat dairy to be associated with a greater risk of ovulatory infertility and by contrast, 'greater intake of high-fat dairy food was associated with a lower risk anovulatory infertility'.

What the heck is anovulatory infertility? It's when you don't ovulate in a cycle, so no egg is released from the ovaries and therefore cannot be fertilised by sperm. ⁠

Some schools of thought are looking into whether it was likely the fat and calcium in dairy that was potentially boosting of fertility and not just the dairy itself. ⁠So, if you're not a dairy consumer then where do you get your calcium?⁠ Turns out there are plenty of other ways to get calcium into your daily meals. Here are just a few of them...⁠ ⁠

Almonds⁠

Tahini (my current favourite!)⁠

Broccoli⁠

Dark Leafy greens (such as collard greens and kale⁠)

Bok choy⁠

Beans⁠

Tinned salmon/sardines with bones⁠

Chia seeds

Lentils⁠

References 

J.E. Chavarro, J.W. Rich-Edwards, B. Rosner, W.C. Willett, A prospective study of dairy foods intake and anovulatory infertility, Human Reproduction, Volume 22, Issue 5, May 2007, Pages 1340–1347, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dem019⁠

⁠

Cramer DW,  Xu H,  Sahi T. Adult hypolactasia, milk consumption and age-specific fertility, Am J Epidemiol, 1994, vol. 139 (pg. 282-289)⁠