Nuts and seeds can look like strong calcium foods when you read the figures per 100g. But 100g of sesame seeds is far more than a sprinkling. The useful question is what a tablespoon or a small handful adds. This article works that out from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy records, last updated in 2019) and then puts the better ones into three meals.
The target
The NHS says adults aged 19 to 64 and over need 700mg of calcium a day, and that you should be able to get all of it from your daily diet. Nuts and seeds are not among the sources it names, which include milk, cheese and other dairy foods, curly kale and okra, soya drinks with added calcium, bread and anything made with fortified flour, and fish where you eat the bones. So in this article the seeds are extras on top of a meal, and milk still carries the breakfast.
Per 100g against per spoonful
| Nut or seed (FDC record) | Calcium per 100g | A realistic amount |
|---|---|---|
| Sesame seeds, whole, dried | 975mg | 1 tbsp (9g): about 88mg |
| Chia seeds, dried | 631mg | 1oz (28.35g): about 179mg |
| Tahini (sesame butter from roasted kernels) | 426mg | 1 tbsp (15g): about 64mg |
| Almonds | 269mg | 1oz, about 23 kernels: about 76mg |
| Flaxseed | 255mg | 1 tbsp whole (10.3g): about 26mg |
| Brazil nuts | 160mg | 1oz, about 6 kernels: about 45mg |
| Hazelnuts | 114mg | 1oz, about 21 kernels: about 32mg |
| Pistachios, raw | 105mg | 1oz, about 49 kernels: about 30mg |
| Walnuts | 98mg | 1oz, about 14 halves: about 28mg |
| Pumpkin and squash seed kernels | 46mg | 1oz: about 13mg |
| Cashews, raw | 37mg | 1oz: about 10mg |
Whole sesame seeds top the per-100g column by a wide margin. A tablespoon weighs only 9g, though, so it gives about 88mg. Chia comes out ahead per portion because the FDC measure for it is an ounce, about three times the weight of a tablespoon of sesame. Cashews and pumpkin seeds add only about 10 to 13mg an ounce.
Whole sesame and hulled sesame
FDC lists whole dried sesame seeds at 975mg per 100g. Its record for sesame seed kernels, dried and decorticated (hulled), lists 60mg. A tablespoon of the kernels (8g) gives about 5mg, against about 88mg for a tablespoon of whole seeds. So whether the seeds are whole or hulled matters more than the word sesame on the pack.
A date with an almond inside
One way to serve both is to stuff a pitted date with an almond. A pitted Medjool weighs about 24g in the FDC data and has 64mg of calcium per 100g, which gives about 15mg. One almond weighs 1.2g and adds about 3mg. Three stuffed Medjool dates come to about 56mg. That does little for the daily figure.
FDC has no record for Sayer dates under that name or as Stamaran, so this article uses the Medjool and Deglet Noor records. Sayer itself is an amber-brown, semi-dry date from Khuzestan in Iran. Deglet Noor, the golden, semi-dry date from Tunisia and Algeria, has 39mg of calcium per 100g, and a pitted one weighs 7.1g.
Three meals with seeds and nuts added
Breakfast is a cup of whole milk (244g) with an ounce of chia seeds soaked in it and two chopped Medjool dates on top. The milk gives about 276mg, the chia about 179mg and the dates about 31mg, so the bowl is about 485mg.
Lunch is a cup of cooked white rice with a cup of raw kale dressed with a tablespoon of tahini. The kale gives about 53mg, the tahini about 64mg and the rice about 6mg, about 123mg in all.
Dinner is another cup of rice with a tablespoon of whole sesame seeds and an ounce of almonds scattered over it, and three Deglet Noor dates afterwards. The sesame gives about 88mg, the almonds about 76mg, the dates about 8mg and the rice about 6mg, roughly 178mg.
The day comes to about 786mg. That is over the 700mg, and well under the 1,500mg a day that the NHS calls a high dose, which it says could lead to stomach pain and diarrhoea. Take the chia, tahini, sesame and almonds away and about 380mg is left, so the add-ons supply more than half of the day.
Dates at mealtimes
The NHS counts a 30g portion of dried fruit, dates included, as 1 of your 5 A Day, and says that dried fruit should be eaten at mealtimes, not as a snack between meals, to reduce the impact on teeth. In the plan above the dates go on the breakfast bowl and after dinner, which keeps them at meals.
The link to Kurma medjool Malaysia, an outside site, was already in this post and is kept. Sayer Dates supplies everything from retail purchases to wholesale, with delivery across the country, as its about us page says. For questions, quotes or orders, the WhatsApp number is on the contact page, and more articles are on the blog.
These figures are general nutrition information, not personal advice. A GP or dietitian can help with an individual diet.