Chinese dietary therapy often recommends that people limit or eliminate dairy products from their diet. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, dairy is considered a cold food that leads to damp accumulation, particularly in people who have a weakness in their Spleen energy. Symptoms of dampness include lethargy, loose stools, feelings of heaviness, cloudy thinking, excess sputum(particularly in the sinuses), certain types of headaches, and accumulations such as cysts and tumors. The concern for some who want to follow this dietary advice, is whether they will be able to get adequate amounts of calcium from a dairy-free diet. This is certainly a concern as most adults require around 1,000 mg of calcium a day to maintain bone, muscular, vascular and hormonal health. There is disagreement about the exact quantities of calcium in foods, but if a person were avoiding milk, increasing the amounts of the following foods should provide enough calcium for most individuals.
Nuts and Seeds
Sesame seeds (most sources list the calcium content of 1 oz of these to contain more calcium than one 8oz glass of milk)
Sunflower seeds (also high in iron)
Almonds
Soybeans
Brazilnuts
Pecans
Sesame tahini
Legumes
Beans (garbonzo, pinto, soy, canellini)
Tofu (especially calcium-treated)
Dark Leafy Greens
kale
collards
turnip greens
dandelion greens
mustard greens
arugula
chard
chicory (curly endive)
Vegetables
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Acorn squash
Fruit
Figs, dried
Orange juice, calcium-fortified
Kiwi
Grains
Cereal (calcium-fortified)
Amaranth
Brown rice
Oatmeal
Corn tortillas
Fish and Seafood
Oysters, raw
Salmon (canned with bones)
Sardines (canned with bones)
Mackerel
Other
Blackstrap Molasses (also high in iron)
Greek yogurt (although dairy, this is not considered a damp-producing food)
