An increasing amount of evidence now suggests that milk is not the best source of calcium at all and goes further to suggest that our bone health would benefit enormously if we switched to plant-based sources. In addition, research suggests that physical exercise is the most critical factor for maintaining healthy bones, followed by improving the diet and lifestyle; this means eating plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, and for young adults cutting down on caffeine and avoiding alcohol and smoking.

There are many plant-based sources of calcium. Good sources include non-oxalate (see below) dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, spring greens, cabbage, bok choy, parsley and watercress. Also rich in calcium are dried fruits, such as figs and on one piece of toast or stirred into a bowl of soup) dates, nuts, particularly almonds and brazil nuts, and seeds including sesame seeds and tahini (sesame seed paste) which contains a massive 680 milligrams of calcium per 100 grams.
Pulses including soya beans, kidney beans, chick peas, baked beans, broad beans, lentils, peas and calcium-set tofu (soya bean curd) provide a good source of calcium. Other fruit and vegetable sources include parsnips, swede, turnips, lemons, oranges, olives and molasses.

Of course it's more complicated than that but you would have to read the whole article to get all of the information.

http://www.vegetarian.org.uk/factsheets/ca lciumfactsheet.html

Thank you for all of the information, Killbill. By the looks of it I'm getting plenty of calcium, as I eat nearly everything you listed. Most of the other women in my family unfortunately don't. I'm probably the only person in the family besides my sister in law that isn't on a "meat and potatoes" diet.

Yeah, we're nothing but animals!

Found this on line.

Health advocates also recommend not reusing bottles made from plastic #1 (polyethylene terephthalate, also known as PET or PETE), including most disposable water, soda and juice bottles. According to The Green Guide, such bottles may be safe for one-time use, but reuse should be avoided because studies indicate they may leach DEHP—another probable human carcinogen—when they are in less than perfect condition.

So polluting by throwing them away is better?

Most of them these days are required to be bio degradable, so throwing them away or recycling them is often better for you and the environment than keeping them.

You can buy big drinking mugs with lids that are designed for re-use. Like the kind they give to patents in hospitals, for example.

I just think most people reuse them these days because they believe it is environmentally friendly and because they don't want to have to buy the bottle again. I'm pretty sure these bottles only get reused for a few days at the most before being lost or thrown away. Watch; the study used old bottles that sat around for MONTHS after use, and crinkled them up, etc etc before testing how much DEHP had leaked from the plastic.

Yeah, I'm guilty of having done that myself in the past. I used to buy bottled water and just refill the bottle with filtered water and keep it in the fridge so that I'd have it cold and ready to drink. Now I boil my water and keep it in a pitcher in the fridge and fill my giant mug to get my daily water intake.

I am a vegetarian and only drink organic milk and eat organic eggs and things like that. I do not use water bottle, I instead got a brita filter for my dorm. I am a vegetarian by personal choice not to eat animals and I feel like it is anyones own choice if they want to eat meat or not, I do not think anyone should be criticized for deciding either way.

I can't be a vegetarian. I love meat too much. Having said this, though, I try my very best to eat free range meat. I find it tastes better, and the animals are treated much more humanely than if they were mass produced (and injected and fed a bunch of crap to make them grow faster).

I watched a show called the River Cottage Treatment, and it totally changed my view about how I eat.

Meblond, I hate peolpe like you! LOL! Not only am I vegaterian, but I only eat raw food, and only drink water from my water purification system. Other than that I smoke about 15 sigarettes a day, and I'm very, very unfit. Kinda defeats the purpose doesn't it?

wow thats living a healthy life!
where are you gettting your other nutrients from?
that does nt sound like a vegetarian Beline, thats sounds like an eating disorder.
Last time i checked, Cigarettes were not in the food group. It supresses your appetite. Sounds like a dumb way to live and survive off of "vegetarian" food...thats starving yourself. Not being a vegetarian.

Meoww! That’s the point I’m trying to make, Krystine. Meblond asked if any people who chose a vegetarian lifestyle for health reasons take other thing into account like micro waving food etc. I eat very healthily, but I smoke and I don’t exercise. Not good. I know. Sorry.
Where do I get my other nutrients from? (I noted the sarcasm) Sheeze…! I don’t know. Maybe in the food I eat. It’s stuffed with vitamins and minerals. And the fact that I haven’t had a single doctor’s bill in 4 years (apart from my yearly check ups with my gynae) might just prove that I’m doing something right.

Granted: I don’t know how long it’s going to last with the inactivity and the smoking. It’s a New Years resolution to start the one and end the other. And thus far I’ve only started on the exercising bit. But it’s taking off VERY slowly, and it will probably go much better once I can breath again. Lol. I’ll probably quit before winter. It sucks to stand outside in the cold. Yes, I know, Krystine. Dumb lifestyle.

Eating disorder? I’m 1.65m tall, I weigh 57kg, and I have a medium bone structure. You do the math. Hardly eating disorder material. And I have maintained this weight for almost 5 years now.

As for starving myself: no. Not a chance. As a matter of fact I eat far, far more than anybody I know. It takes fruit approximately 20 minutes to digest, and thus I eat more regularly, and bigger amounts than the average person.

i didnt know it takes fruits 20 minutes to digest, that is good to know! I have considered going raw like you but i dont htink i could do it, it takes a lot of work! good job, that does sound like a healthy lifestyle to me (seriously, i was not being sarcastic)

Raw food diets are extremely good for you. Takes your body back to eating the way it was designed.

I wish I had the discipline. My bf almost does this. He cooks eggs and fish sometimes and incorporates it into his meals. We eat similarily but I eat more cooked food.

I hope you quit the cigs, Beline! I know that's a tough habit to break.

ya raw food diets are healthy, but with only eating raw fruits and veggies, where are the other nutirents!? like, dairy..do you eat any cheese or drink milk? where do you get your protine from? you dont eat meat, so you have to get it from somewhere else, so what do you replace it with is what i meant.

The way you worded your response Beline, saying you eat only raw foods, and drink water and smoke 15 chgs a day, sounded more like an eating disprder to me, because of the fact that cigarettes supress your appetite, making your body feel full and not wanting to eat, and how you only eat raw fruits and veggies. To have an eating disorder does not mean you have to be anorexic skinny, its all in the lifestyle of eating paterns and other ex: smoking 15 a day.

That's great if thats how you want to live...i dont see how you would be getting the right amount of protein or dairy, but exercise is important in everyday life. And quitting smoking would be in your best intrest.
You've most likely maintained this weight because you take nothing else in.
I bet if you knocked off something you eat your weight would drop. And like i said the cigs just suppress your appetite which is NOT a healthy life style.

How does this raw food diet work?
I'll let you in on something, a few years back i had an eating disorder, [but have got my eating habbits back ontrack now and that is in the past] and read a little about it, but didn't get into it.
Im just curious, how does it work, how does it satify what you need to eat healthily?
if that sounded dumb sorry, but im curious

You know, Birch, it really isn’t that hard. I started with one fruit meal a day, and I really dressed it up to look very appealing. A hand full of nuts, some strawberries and grapes, watermelon, kiwi fruit, pineapple and mango slices, and there you go! It takes you 10 minutes to prepare, and voila! Mouthwatering, colorful, and healthy.

But as I said in the vegetarian diet forum: it’s a lifestyle, not a religion. If you want your cooked meals at night, have them. Every winter I start craving spinage, and I just can’t get myself to eat it raw, so I cook it. No train smash.

As for the smoking: thanks, I need all the help I can get. It really is a nasty habit.

Krystine, nuts contain plenty of protein, and it’s easier to digest than animal protein. If I knock it, I most probably will lose weight, but I eat about 1 kg nuts a week, plus I eat a lot of avocado pears.
I don’t take dairy because it just clogs my sinuses. I’ll give you a shocker though: contrary to popular belief dairy actually causes osteoporosis. True, it contains a lot of calcium, but because of the pasteurization process it turns inorganic and only 4-6% of the calcium gets absorbed into the body. When the milk protein is digested, it leaves an acidic residue in you bloodstream which your body neutralizes by drawing calcium from your bones and teeth. Not exactly what we were tought in school, hey?

But just think about it for a minute: the people in third world countries, whom have never ever seen a toothbrush in their lives, all have perfect teeth. They don’t eat acid forming foods, only raw food. And they will probably have a heart attack if they see a cow, let alone drink the milk.

How the raw food diet works: if it doesn’t grow on a plant, I don’t eat it.
And I know what an eating disorder is like. I used to comfort eat after my first divorce. It was awful: the more weight I gained, the more people made nasty remarks, the more comfort I needed from food. It was quite the vicious circle. It ended with me weighing 96kg, with a numerous amount of health problems.

Sounds inspiring, Beline!

I always need a smad of dressing. Do you use any salad dressings?

I would also add to the comments about milk that hormones fester in large amounts in dairy. You know that crud isn't helping anyone. Common sense would tell you that cow milk is for baby cows with entirely different nutritional needs than human beings.

Hey, krystine, you might want to read this: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2008/02/r aw-food-diet/

It's a review of someone who did the raw food diet for 30 days. I thought it was interesting.

Thanks Birch i'll read it.

However Beline, although nts do have protein, it is not nearly as much that meat protein have in them. Measuring the two together, there would be a complete difference. Sure eating as many nuts as you can is great...but meat have the right proteins and nurtiens we need.

Also there are milks like soy or rice milk, which are actually better for people to be drinking. I've never tried them, but some people i've talked to said its better for people to have rather than cows milk.
Where do you get your dairy then? its a source we need to stay healthy, and it does keep our bones strong, there's other dairy products you could choose from which have more calcuim like cheese or yogurt...All healthy things we need in our everyday lives.

Although the raw food diet sounds intresting and some what healthy...i love meat too much, and dont like that many veggies, i dont think i would be able to do it lol Although i do eat fruits and veggies here and there, of course veggies in salad or with dip, and fruit salads

my doctor, when i became a vegetarian told me that if i eat nuts and all the other food groups, i would have enough protien. he said normal meat eaters get way too much protein, and i would be fine.

also, do you know normal milk has 35 chemicals in it? I choose to only drink organic milk, because it eliminates those chemicals. If none is available, i drink soy milk, which i think tastes great