Urban Legend: Quinoa Has More Calcium Than Cows Milk

[beforewisdom]

There is an urban legend going around on the internet ( and in at least one cookbook that I happened to buy ) that 1 cup of cooked quinoa has more calcium than a quart of milk.

This isn't true. One cup of cooked quinoa has about 1/10 the calcium of just 1 cup of cows milk.

From the USDA nutrition database:
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6430

Not to be entirely negative, there are tasty vegan calcium sources that do match and exceed the amount of calcium found in cows milk:
http://beforewisdom.com/blog/milkandbon ... g-calcium/

[Heinrich]

Isnt it kinda important to know, what amount of "quinoa has more calcium than a quarter of milk"?

[Fallen_Horse]

Maybe because milk is only slightly calcium positive due to urinary excretion?

[tal]

[quote="Heinrich"]Isnt it kinda important to know, what amount of "quinoa has more calcium than a quarter of milk"?

[quote="Talyn"][quote="Heinrich"]Isnt it kinda important to know, what amount of "quinoa has more calcium than a quarter of milk"?

[skoptic]

Don't trust any websites... they all lie about the calcium content. No-one can mention the REAL amount online - I know the REAL amount, but every time I upload it, the interweb server things keep changing it

I can post it to anyone though....

[quote="skoptic"]Don't trust any websites... they all lie about the calcium content.

[skoptic]

[quote="beforewisdom"]
Right here
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6430
I just did . That site is from the USDA nutrition database, the standard used for most free and non-free nutrition software.

[Alistar]

Who really cares? The total amount isn't really the most important thing is it?

I thought cows milk was a shit way of getting calcium anyway as its poorly absorbed?

NZ dairy capital of the World, and look at our osteoporosis rates

"Affects more than half of women, and nearly a third of men over age 60." Hmmmm...

Therefore I'm pretty sceptical of comparing anything to milk, as if its some sort of "gold standard"

[quote="Alistar"]Who really cares? The total amount isn't really the most important thing is it?

I meant the total amount of calcium in a particular food vs the amount of calcium actually absorbed by the body and/or leached out of the system from other components in said foodstuff.

NZers consume a shitload of milk/dairy products and look at our osteoporosis rates. If dairy products were so shit hot we wouldn't have a problem would we? Therefore how much calcium is absorbed in one's system is obviously IMO far more complicated than just what calcium content a particular food has.

What seems more important to me is ensuring we have enough vit D, vit K magnesium etc which are essential for calcium absorbtion. And limit soda's, alcohol, refined foods etc

I hardly eat quinoa, but I just see it as another useful grain to be eaten alongside Oats, wheat, and rice legumes etc in a varied diet. Eating just quinoa would be pretty obsessive wouldn't it? How many would do that?

[quote="beforewisdom"][quote="Alistar"]

Therefore I'm pretty sceptical of comparing anything to milk, as if its some sort of "gold standard"

[beforewisdom]

Alistar

Nobody is using cows milk as a "gold standard" of calcium sources. It is just a calcium source that people are familiar with so people use it to give perspective, like putting an empty can of soda next to an object you are taking a picture of to give the viewer a perspective on the side.

The point of my original post and this thread is that a seriously bad piece of misinformation has been passed around like a cold, starting on the internet and making its way into printed cookbooks. That piece of misinformation being that that quinoa has a lot more calcium than it actually does.

[thestoatyone]

As I see it, it's more a "Getting our house in order" kinda thread, making sure that we are making credible claims backed by science in order to make a convincing case for an animal free diet to the population in general, rather than a discussion about calcium and vegans in general, which is covered, well, just about everywhere else.

We ain't going to get taken seriously as a movement if we look all Gillian McKeith in our approach to the nutrient content of veg...

[BlueRose]

[quote="beforewisdom"]There is an urban legend going around on the internet ( and in at least one cookbook that I happened to buy ) that 1 cup of cooked quinoa has more calcium than a quart of milk.

This isn't true. One cup of cooked quinoa has about 1/10 the calcium of just 1 cup of cows milk.

From the USDA nutrition database:
http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6430

Not to be entirely negative, there are tasty vegan calcium sources that do match and exceed the amount of calcium found in cows milk:
http://beforewisdom.com/blog/milkandbon ... g-calcium/

[Hiking Fox]

[quote="BlueRoseAnd where do the cows get their calcium?[/quote]

From all the leafy green stuff they eat.

Nuff said.