Popular Vitamin D Foods to Eat Every Day, Dietitian Says

At this point, we pretty much know how to get vitamin D – just sit in the sun for a while. But did you know that there are actually a few popular foods that are considered rich sources of vitamin D? This crucial vitamin is important for absorbing calcium in your gut, which helps in the formation and growth of birth, as well as the breakdown and accumulation of bone tissue. As you age, bone health is vital to keeping you strong and preventing you from injuring yourself from falls or even developing osteoporosis, so having consistent sources of vitamin D.

The Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) says you should be consuming at least 15 micrograms per day for adults under 70 and 20 micrograms for adults over 70. This equates to 600 to 800 international units (IU); 800 being the usual number dietitians recommend to clients.

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means it can be stored in your fatty tissue and used later. While it is important to get these vitamins, taking vitamin D a few times a week (instead of every day) is still good enough for your body’s health. For example, according to the National Institute of Health, exposing your skin to the sun twice a week for 5 to 30 minutes (usually during the sunniest hours, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.) will give you enough vitamin D for the day. .

However, if sun exposure of your skin is not a recurring option for you, you can also get vitamin D from a few foods that you can eat every day or even a few times a week. As long as you make sure that you are getting enough of it and that you don’t develop a vitamin D deficiency.

“Getting enough vitamin D in your diet is difficult because vitamin D isn’t found in many foods, but it is possible,” says Lisa Young, PhD, RDN, author of Finally full, finally thin, nutritionist in private practice and member of our board of medical experts.

While the food options you can eat to get vitamin D are pretty slim, Young recommends a few that you can incorporate to give yourself a vitamin D boost. Here are some popular foods that contain vitamin D. to buy the next time you go to the grocery store, and for even more health tips, be sure to check out our list of the 7 healthiest foods to eat right now.

Young says fatty fish, like salmon, tuna, and mackerel, are all great sources of vitamin D in your diet. Herring and sardines may also contain vitamin D.

“We’re thinking of including fatty fish for the heart-healthy omega 3 fatty acids, but fatty fish also contains vitamin D which isn’t found in too many foods,” Young explains. “Here’s another reason to enjoy two meals of fatty fish a week. And wild salmon has more vitamin D than farmed salmon.”

A study published in the Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was able to conclude that wild salmon provides 988 IU of vitamin D in a 3.5 oz bottle. serving, which is 124% of your daily value (DV) for vitamin D.

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Yes, the egg yolk is the fattiest part of the egg, but it’s also densely packed with nutrients that are absolutely worth it in your egg scramble. Young points out that egg yolks are also a source of vitamin D, so eating the whole egg yolk is worth it.

According to the USDA, one large egg yolk contains 37 IU. If you were to eat two large eggs for breakfast, you would consume 74 IU of vitamin D, which is about 10% of your DV.

Yes, mushrooms are also on the list, especially when exposed to the sun.

“Wild mushrooms are the only good plant source of vitamin D,” Young explains. “They can make vitamin D2 when exposed to UV light.”

According to a study published in Food and chemical toxicology, wild mushrooms that have been exposed to the sun can provide up to 2,300 IU per 3.5-ounce serving, which is 288% of your DV for the day. However, this is still below the upper tolerable limit (UL) of 4000 IU per day recommended by the DRI.

With so many limited foods that provide vitamin D, some fortified foods can help with vitamin D intake. According to Young, “foods fortified with vitamin D, like most dairy products, plant-based milk , orange juice and cereals “are all options to choose from.

Foods that have been fortified are given an additional supplement of vitamins and minerals that are not naturally present in this article. Vitamins D and A are typically added to milk and other popular foods, as well as nutrients like folic acid (folate), zinc, and iron.

Depending on the article, you will likely get around 100-200 IU per serving of any of these items, or 13-25% of your DV.

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