What Plant-Based Milks Contain Calcium?

Calcium is an essential nutrient that helps maintain the integrity of bones and teeth but is also involved in nervous system control, blood clotting and muscle contractions. Low intakes of calcium have been linked with a condition called osteoporosis, where bones have a low density and are at increased risk of fractures and breaks. There are a variety of factors linked to osteoporosis, including low intake of calcium throughout life, vitamin D status (which we get from the sun) and exercise.

Most Australians will meet their calcium requirements through milk and milk-based products. However, when following a vegan, plant-based or dairy-free diet, these foods are completely omitted. It is therefore essential to ensure that appropriate swaps to calcium-fortified plant based milks are made.

There are a lot of different plant based milks on the supermarket shelves, and the plant-based milk industry is only growing. In the local Coles, Woolworths or IGA you are bound to find soy, almond, rice, oat, coconut and sometimes even macadamia milk. With all these options, and a lot of different branding as to which one is the ‘healthiest’, it can get very difficult which ones we should be picking and choosing,

What Plant-Based Milks Contain Calcium:

The most important thing to note when we choose our plant-based milks, is to choose ones that are calcium-fortified. This means, calcium has been added into the milk during the production process. We should ideally be aiming for at least 100mg per 100ml of plant milk to provide our bodies with a good source of calcium (check out the nutrition label on the left). I took a quick trip to my local woolies the other day and took a few photos of which brands were calcium-fortified and which ones are not. Please note, these include only the brands that were available at my local Woolworths and this post is not sponsored.

Soy milk:

Calcium fortified:

• Vitasoy: soy milk, original soy, calci-plus soy
• Woolworths Macro organic soy milk
• So good Soy milk
• Woolworths select regular soy milk

Not calcium fortified

• Bonsoy
• Pure Harvest Nature’s Soy It’s organic

Almond milk

Calcium fortified:

• Vitasoy – almond milk unsweetened
• Almond breeze (has some calcium added, but not a good source)
• So good – almond milk, almond/coconut mil

Not calcium fortified

• Australia’s Own Organic Almond milk

Coconut milk

Calcium fortified:

• Vitasoy – coconut milk unsweetened

Not calcium fortified

• Australia’s Own Organic Coconut milk
• Cocoquench

Oat milk

• Vitasoy – oat milk unsweetened

Not calcium fortified

• Pureharvest – It’s organic oat milk

Rice Milk

Calcium fortified:

• Pure harvest It’s organic Rice Milk with added organic calcium
• Vitasoy rice milk unsweetened

For more individualised advice on how you optimise your plant based diet and eat great food,  book in to see our plant based dietitian here. 

This article was written by Plant Nutrition and Wellness’s founder Kiah Paetz.