The Easiest Ways to Get More Vitamin D in Your Diet
Vitamin D is extremely important for your health, and I don’t just mean bone health. People need vitamin D for immune function, cell growth and repair, and many other things. We get vitamin D from sunlight and through food, so let’s take a look at which foods contain the most vitamin D.
You don’t have to get all your vitamin D from food.
Before discussing nutritional sources, I want to first address the issue of where vitamin D comes from. The main sources are sunlight and food (and supplements), so if you get plenty of sun, you don’t need to worry about meeting your needs with food, and vice versa.
How much sun do you need to get enough vitamin D? It depends on your latitude on Earth and how dark or light your skin is. As a point of reference, consider this study , which compared sun exposure in Miami and Boston. In summer in Miami, a person with a medium skin tone (one that tans easily but can still burn) takes only a few minutes to get their daily dose of vitamin D. In winter in Boston, it can take two hours for the same person, bundled up, to get their daily dose of vitamin D. to get the same amount of vitamin D.
Health professionals generally agree that if you’re not sure whether you’re getting enough vitamin D from food and sun, simply take a supplement. This will be safer than trying to meet all your needs with sunlight, since the sun’s vitamin-converting rays are the same rays that can potentially contribute to the development of skin cancer.
Getting more vitamin D from food is also an option, so let’s dive in.
How much vitamin D do you need from food every day?
There is no consensus on how much vitamin D we need, but the US National Institutes of Health has decided that 600 IU (international units) is enough for almost everyone between the ages of 1 and 70. If you are over 70 years of age, you should receive 800 IU.
The daily value listed on labels is based on a target of 800 IU (recommendation for older adults), so most of us can actually get by with just 75% of the daily value instead of ensuring we reach 100%.
These international units exist because food contains different forms of vitamin D, and some have stronger effects on the body than others. In general, 600 IU is equivalent to 15 micrograms of vitamin D, but using IU means you don’t have to monitor what type of vitamin is in your food.
Oh, and the 600 or 800 IU recommendations assume you’re getting minimal sun exposure—they’re meant for bundled-up people in Boston, not sunbathers in Miami.
Simple Ways to Add Vitamin D to Your Diet
Eat more oily fish
Fish contains tons of vitamin D in its fat, so fatty fish like trout and salmon tend to be excellent sources of this vitamin.
If you’ll allow me to rant a little: fish oil always tops lists of sources of vitamin D, as if people buy fish oil and take it by the spoonful, like in the old cartoons. (Maybe people do. If that’s you, you can stop reading.) I’m going to continue my list as if fish oil doesn’t exist. However, if you really want to get your vitamin D this way, be sure to buy some on Amazon .
If you like the fish you eat, here’s how much vitamin D is found in different types of fish. All of these lists are from the USDA and indicate levels in a three-ounce serving of cooked fish.
-
Trout (rainbow, farmed): 645 IU.
-
Salmon (sockeye salmon): 570 IU
-
Tuna (light, canned): 229 IU (or 460 IU per small can)
-
Tilapia: 128 IU
-
Fish fingers: unfortunately, only 1 IU.
Other animal products that are good sources of vitamin D.
Some land animals also produce enough vitamin D to be considered a good source of vitamin D.
-
Chicken eggs: 37 IU each (vitamin D is in the yolk)
-
Beef liver: 48 IU per three-ounce cooked serving.
Milk is known to be a good source of vitamin D (it often says “milk with vitamin D” on the packaging). Milk fat naturally has some vitamin D, so skim milk usually doesn’t have much vitamin D, but whole milk does and is often fortified to boost levels even further.
-
Whole milk: 124 IU per cup.
-
Heavy cream: 19 IU per ounce.
Eat more fortified foods
A food is “fortified” with vitamins if those vitamins have been added to the food. Many people don’t drink milk, so some similar drinks are sold with added vitamin D.
-
Fortified plant milk : Check the label, this is often similar to whole milk. Here’s Silk brand soy milk with 120 IU per cup.
-
Fortified Orange Juice : Check the label for Simply Orange with 200 IU per cup.
-
Fortified cereals : Check the label, but even sugary cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch contain 240 IU per serving.
You get the idea. Plant foods don’t naturally contain much vitamin D, but many common foods like these are fortified. Between food, sunshine, and the “I don’t want to think about it” approach of simply taking a vitamin D supplement, meeting your needs shouldn’t be too difficult.