Though it's found in fish, vegetables and tofu, drinking milk is one of the easiest ways of getting a good dose of calcium. But how can we be sure we are getting enough to build healthy bones and teeth?
Thai health guidelines say we should all be getting at least 800 milligrams a day and many milk and soymilk producers have responded by adding extra calcium. Of course the price per carton is higher, by between one and four baht. On average, for every 100ml, milk contains 120mg of calcium while unsweetened soymilk features only 18mg.
The research department at Mahidol University's Institution of Nutrition recently laboratory tested 19 milk and soymilk products from seven brands on the supermarket shelf for Chalart Sue (Smart Buyer Magazine). The findings on the three milk brands - Anlene, Chokchai and Foremost - and four soya milks - Lactasoy, Dna, Vitamilk and V Soy - were interesting.
The amount of calcium in most of the products more or less matched what's on their labels. Chokchai's Nutimax, however, was found to contain only about 60 per cent of the calcium claimed, and unsweetened V Soy, whose 230ml boxes boast the full 800mg daily dose, were 14 per cent short. Vitamilk, though, offers more calcium than claimed.
But it's not the amount of calcium consumed that matters, says deputy director of the research department Assoc Prof Somsri Charoenkiatkul - it's the amount absorbed by your body, usually only about 30 to 40 per cent of what goes into your mouth.
Somsri suggests drinking milk after a meal makes it easier for the body to absorb the calcium. It's also absorbed in higher quantities from ordinary milk drunk more often than from the milks with added calcium, which often washes through the body unused.
The magazine's conclusion is that the added calcium in milk products goes to waste. But Somsri says drinking them won't hurt - just make sure the price doesn't hurt your wallet.
Xtra
Calcium - the facts
Find a complete list of the facts about calcium in milk in this month's Smart Buyer Magazine.
Recommended daily intake: Aged one to three - 500 milligrams; aged four to eight - 800mg; aged nine to 18 - 1,300mg; aged 19 to 50 - 1,000mg; aged 51-plus - 1,200mg
Good sources of calcium (per 100 grams): Plain, low-fat UHT milk contains 123mg of calcium.
