4 things to eat if you need more Vitamin D

Firstly, since the majority of urban adults and children spend days indoors, sun can be hard to come by— hence why many are D-deficient. Even when outdoor activities are scheduled, the time of day and weather may negatively impact how much vitamin D one gets. Additionally, there are the dangers involved with too much sun exposure from sunburns to skin cancer. Therefore, it’s best to get vitamin D from all possible sources.

That’s where these four foods come in. They’re your best bet if you’re looking to up your vitamin D game. Daily supplements are strongly encouraged to meet nutritional goals if you are deficient in Vitamin D, because these foods still won’t get you everything you need. The National Institutes of Health has a Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) 600 international units (IUs) per day for anyone between the ages of one and 70, while The Vitamin D Council says adults should get 5,000 IUs. If that seems like a lot, we suggest consuming between 800 to 1,000 IUs to satisfy your daily needs. Use these four foods to get yourself closer to your goal.

1. Fatty Fish

Fatty fish are inarguably the food with the highest content of vitamin D.One filet of trout has about 502 IUs and one filet of salmon has 815 IUs. These fish are also a great source of lean protein and healthy fats.

Another option to consider is investing in cod liver oil. Just one tablespoon of cod liver oil has over 1,300 IUs. They are also available in pill forms. We recommend to take them after meal as it improves their absroption rate.

2. Fortified Foods

Vitamin D and calcium are meant to be consumed together. That’s part of the reason products like milk, orange juice, and cereals tend to be fortified with vitamin D.One cup of fortified milk has about 400 IUs.

3. Mushrooms

Mushrooms, especially sun-dried mushrooms are good source of vitamin D. They function similarly to our skin, where they use sunlight to produce their own Vitamin D. 100 grams of fresh shiitake mushrooms have about 100 IUs, while 100 grams of sun-dried shiitake mushrooms have about 1,600 IUs.

4. Eggs

Eggs does not contain high amounts of vitamin D (only 41 IUs per one egg), but relatively higher content as compared to other foods. If you’re D-deficient consider working eggs into more of your meals. They’re also low in calories and high in protein.