The whole subject of dairy during and after pregnancy really focuses on your calcium intake as your baby grows and develops strong bones and teeth. Calcium is also essential to regulate blood pressure, your heartbeat, water balance in the cells and muscle contractions. If you are not getting enough calcium, your baby will deplete your own reserves which in later life may be a cause for serious health repurcussions. So what’s a women to do if she can’t eat milk and yogurt? Or like my friend, who cannot eat dairy while breastfeeding her lactose intolerant baby who currently does not respond well to formula? Or what about a women who is pregnant with twins? How much calcium does she need? (The image is of Kelp - a very high source of calcium).

For the record, a pregnant/postpartum woman (with or without twins) needs about 1200 milligrams of calcium per day. So for example if you ate 3oz of swiss cheese, 3oz of salmon and/or 3oz of almonds you would probably be getting sufficient calcium in a day. Take a look at the list below written by Dr. Dean Raffelock, author of “A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health.” There are some surprising numbers…. who would have thought whole milk and cottage cheese would be so low on the totem pole and that kelp would be number 1? All of the numbers to the right side are amounts in miligrams (remember you need approximately 1200mg a day) and these are all based on 3oz servings.

Kelp 1093

Swiss Cheese 925

Chedder Cheese 750

Dulse 296

Collard Greens 250

Turnip Greens 246

Barbados Molasses 245

Almonds 234

Brewers Yeast 210

Corn Tortilla 200

Water Cress 151

Cooked Soybeans 150

Cooked Salmon 140

Goat Milk 129

Dried Figs 126

Buttermilk 121

Sunflower Seeds 120

Whole Milk 118

Cottage Cheese 94

Spinach 93

Cooked Lentils 25

So why bother with supplements? Well for one, your body metabolizes food differently, and sometimes the calcium you consume in food may be cancelled out by other nutrients you are consuming such as iron. That is why it is recommended to consume both food and supplements, ideally taking your calcium supplements before you go to bed. It’s also worth adding some acid in the form of a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to cooked beans or leafy greens since this increases the availability of calcium.

Some other things to keep in mind…. your body needs to stay in a slightly neutral/alkali state with a pH of approximately 7.2-7.4. Too much soda (can take you down to a pH of 2), sugar or excessive meat eating causes your body to become overly acidic and leach calcium and magnesium from your bones in an attempt to return you to a balanced pH. It is absolutely advisable you eat lots of greens and fruits to keep your body in an alkali state and supplement your diet with a good calcium/magnesium supplement at night to make sure you are replenishing your body.

Finally I thought I would just focus on Kelp for another minute. Kelp (it’s seaweed) is one of the richest plant sources of calcium. The calcium content of seaweed is typically about 4-7%. At 7% calcium, one gram of dried seaweed provides 70 mg of calcium, compared to a daily dietary requirement of about 1,200 mg i.e. you would have to consume a lot of seaweed! Still, this is higher than a serving of most non-milk based foods and if you can’t eat dairy and you are breastfeeding it is worth swallowing a couple of Kelp capsules every day.