By Odette Olivares, VRG Intern

Latin American gastronomy is the result of traditional indigenous cuisine enriched by ingredients that Spaniards, Africans, Portuguese, French, and people from other cultures brought on their arrival to Latin America. The diet of indigenous people used to be rich in plant foods with moderate quantities of insects, fish, and meat. They did not use to consume milk, cheese, or other dairy products, yet they were apparently able to get enough calcium from their diets.

Thanks to the climate of Latin America, this region has provided the world with an abundant variety of plant foods high in calcium. In addition, indigenous people from the region that is now Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, enriched Latin American gastronomy by developing a cooking technique called nixtamalization, which enhances maize (corn) flavor while improving its nutritional properties.

Some traditional Latin American dishes made with good sources of calcium are shown in the table in this article. To see article, go to:

https://www.vrg.org/nutrition/foods_calcium.htm