Old Style vs the USDA head-to-head challenge...

weezl74

Hi addictedtosoreen,

Thanks for that. I see there's milk in your smoothie. Beware, I feel a long post coming on, take cover! Look away now!!

Well….. there I was feeling all smug about the healthiness of my uber-thrifty diet. And then yesterday at work I had a lunch time chat with two of my colleagues, and shared with them my extreme challenge.

They were a bit surprised shocked, but relieved about the 5 a day (although I’m not doing it organically!) but then asked about calcium, and reminded me about the importance to protect my bone density as I get older. Very good point! And not one I’d thought through properly on this challenge up til now!

My fount of all knowledge seemed to dry up completely when I got home and asked the Internet for some help!

Tried search terms like ‘calcium amounts in everyday foods’ and multiple other search terms, but nothing! Well, numerous sites saying drink this much milk a day, and if you’re vegan, try tofu or blackstrap molasses or asparagus. Grrrr, these are not really frugal foods!

So, our daily needs are somewhere between 700-1000 micrograms of calcium per day. This is the one nutrient I need as much as Mr Weezl of, because of my gender. Normally I need less of everything (calories, fat, protein) because I am 2/3rds the size of him.

Interestingly this presents me with the problem. I often won’t have the Home made icecream for pudding and Mr weezl does, and he eats more bread, has butter on it, has the cheese sarnies while I have the houmous ones etc… All because he needs it more than me. Or so I thought. His daily diet I worked out, does give him at least the 700 microgrammes of calcium.

Mine is a different story. Over a week I drink approx 2 pints of milk in tea/coffee. This is roughly 1190 mg of calcium weekly. Only a quarter of the minimum daily requirement. Oops!

I don’t have cheese or yoghurt, the other high calcium foods. They haven’t been so easily affordable with my frugal ways.

The USDA food database helped me work out that my bread, egg, pulse and veg consumption for an average day gave me approx half my recommended calcium, with milk providing another quarter. But Ive still been lacking approx 175mg calcium daily. Drat and double drat. Maybe my mum was right to send those vitamin and mineral pills!

Better have a cup of tea….

Boils kettle. Remembers how badly the kettle needs descaling….. To get rid of all those hard water deposits like…. CALCIUM and magnesium!

Rushes back to google. Again not much joy, but one site did suggest that if you drink 8 glasses of hard tap water a day, you get approx 200mg calcium! Good times…I have been drinking at least that!

Here’s a map of the uk showing hard and soft water areas if you want to find out if this help you to get enough calcium too.


I live in a moderate to hard water area (Cardiff) but work 3 days a week in Bristol, a hard water area. Must remember to drink loads of tapwater at work….

Another long ramble! Hope this is useful/interesting to you!
TTFN,
Extra fortified Weezl x

ceridwen

Hi Weezl

Keep up the good work. I like articulate, informative, humorous threads - so that includes yours.

I'm learning stuff I didnt know (wondering whether water filters might "undo" any affects of calcium in water, as well as the "baddies" I am trying to filter out?)

I'm interested to know of cheap veggie/vegan protein foods I can have myself - think quorn for instance is pretty dear actually (though not in comparison with meat I know).

getting-sorted-sarah

ceridwen, I'm vegetarian too and have just started going back to basics (if that isn't a contradiction) by cooking using soya mince and lots more pulses. I used to cook like this - very frugally through necessity and very from scratch - OS that is! Then my children came along, along with credit cards and longer working hours and a higher expectation of life... and to cut a long story short we ate veggie convenience foods, quorn amongst them.
Soya mince is brilliant, and out of a 99p 500 g packet I've so far made 12 meal portions (chili, shepherd's pie, bolognaise etc)- with about a third of the packet left!

weezl this is really interesting. We eat a lot of cheese, but I'm trying to cut that down to cut cost and fat in our diets and I have to admit that I have no idea how much calcium we need to take in. For DD cheese is her only dairy (thinks: must make that lemon curd ice cream!) from day to day, whereas I make my porridge with skimmed milk and ditto DS has a little milk on his very non (OS) cocopops.
Oh - you should pop over to Bath, I'm sure the water is harder there - you can practically stand a spoon up in it!

ceridwen

Thanks for that comment - I am reluctant myself to use soya mince or soya anything come to that - unless it specifies "organic". Does soya mince say its organic okay? (reason - I gather that all soya beans have G.M. in them unless they are organic these days).

getting-sorted-sarah

Good point. Although I was under the impression that big supermarkets like Tesco had decided not to stock GM foods, plus they now legally have to be labeled as GM. My soya mince was from Tesco and is not organic, neither does it specify GM soya. I did see organic soya mince in Holland and Barratt which was more expensive, slightly, but still much cheaper that quorn.

ceridwen

Thanks

I might give Holland & Barrett a looksee then.

candygirl

I can't stomach soya mince, I hate the texture:eek: :eek: Think it's cos i've been a veggie sooo long I hate anything that even has any slight resemblance to meat.I picked a packet up in Tesco the other week , then looked at the pic on it and just knew it wouldn't work for me, aren't I soft?:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
I've got a massive bean/veg/lentil combo in the slow cooker at the mo, that i'm gonna make into veggie curries, chillis and lasagnes later.It's extreme money saving I need at the moment:eek:

getting-sorted-sarah

Found this on Tesco site:

Our policy on Genetically Modified (GM) foods is driven by the view of our customers. Our research shows that 75% of UK customers do not want GM food. We do not therefore have any own-brand GM foods on our shelves.

ceridwen

candygirl

details please? might give me some ideas.

funkyfunkymonkey

ceridwen wrote: »

I'm learning stuff I didnt know (wondering whether water filters might "undo" any affects of calcium in water, as well as the "baddies" I am trying to filter out?).

The hardness in water is caused by the calcium carbonate, when you boil the kettle the scale that is formed is from calcium carbonate coming out of solution. Filters do remove 'hardness' so my guess is that calcium is removed, but boiling would also remove some - so drinking hot drinks may not help.

If I find out any more I'll post again.

FFM