Vitamin D is a nutrient needed by the body which is found in a few common foods including fish and most dairy products. Vitamin D is different from other vitamins in that it can be made by the body, however, this process requires direct and intense sunlight and so in many parts of the world, consuming it in food sources is required. Vitamin D is mostly known for its close association with calcium and bone density, and while this is its most important function, there are other ways the body uses Vitamin D. Because Vitamin D is fat soluble, excess amounts consumed from food can be stored by the body for extended periods of time. Individuals need about 5 mcg/day, but as we get older, our body is less able to absorb Vitamin D, so elderly individuals are consume 10 mcg/day.
The most common concerns regarding a Vitamin D deficiency involve Osteoporosis in adults and a disease called Rickets in children. Rickets involves the failure of what are called ´long bones´ to develop properly. While overdosing in Vitamin D from sunlight is impossible because the body is able to stop producing Vitamin D, Vitamin D overdose from food sources is possible, although rare. The most common cause of Vitamin D overdose involve taking supplements incorrectly. Extended periods of Vitamin D overconsumption can result in kidney stones as well as other problems.
While Vitamin D is commonly associated with milk and dairy products, unenriched milk actually has only modest amounts of Vitamin D. In many northern areas like the United States and most of Europe, milk is enriched because, especially in winter months, the sunlight most individuals receive is not enough to produce the needed quantities of Vitamin D.
It is very fortuitious that the best food source of Vitamin D is readily available in northern areas where sunlight is limited. This excellent food source of Vitamin D is fish. Almost all types of fish have large amounts of Vitamin D, but deep sea and cold weather fish have especially large amounts of the nutrient. This is just one more reason, in a long list of health reasons, to add fish to your meal plans at least twice a week.
Vitamin D is stored in most animals in their liver, which makes liver and excellent food source for Vitamin D. And again, similar to fish, liver is another food that should be used to replace other meats during meals. While all meat contains vitamin D, the amount found in muscle meat ( what we commonly consume as red meat) is much less than fish or liver and of course red meat has serious health risks associated with it.
Vitamin D can also be found in most fruit and vegetables, however, the amounts are much lower than can be found in fish, liver or even red meat. There are a plant foods that contain moderate amounts of Vitamin D, including most whole grain foods. Mushrooms are also a very good source of vitamin D.
While we are talking about food sources of Vitamin D, it is important to understand the factors that contribute to your body producing Vitamin D on its own. Vitamin D is produced in skin cells in the presence of direct sunlight. An average person needs only about 15 minutes of direct sunlight, three times a week in order to produce all the Vitamin D they need. There are a few cautions regarding this though. The biggest problem is the sunlight needs to be direct and fairly strong. For this reason, even during daylight hours, people living in the northern areas of the United States will not produce very much Vitamin D in the winter months. It is also important to note the glass will deflect the portion of light that the body needs to produce Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is commonly found in most dairy products, and many important food sources of Vitamin D such as milk are enriched so that they can more easily satisfy the body’s needs. The most abundant natural source of Vitamin D is fish, which along with its other health benefits should be consumed frequently. The body is also able to produce Vitamin D, but only in the presence of direct, and fairly strong, sunlight. The primary function of Vitamin D in the body is to help absorb and utilize calcium. For this reason, both a deficiency and overdose of Vitamin D causes problems associated with calcium, including osteoporosis, rickets and kidney stones.
