Healthy vitamin d rich foods

vitamin d rich foods:

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. It is also known as the “sunshine vitamin” as our body is capable of producing vitamin D in the presence of sunlight. One of the most important functions of vitamin D in the body is that it is required to absorb calcium (1).

In this article today, we are going to discuss and enlist all the Vitamin D rich foods that you should be consuming to avoid vitamin D deficiency symptoms.  Here are a few healthy vitamin d rich foods(2)

Cod liver oil

Cod liver oil is extracted from the liver of codfish. Cod liver oil contains 250 µg of vitamin D in 100 grams of oil and is one of the best vitamin d rich foods. Along with vitamin D cod liver oil is also a rich source of vitamin A and omega 3 fatty acids which also provide several health benefits apart from avoiding vitamin D deficiency symptoms(3).

Mushrooms 

Mushrooms are good vitamin d rich foods. But most vegetarians do not eat mushrooms because they do not like the texture. But some of them do and for those mushrooms can be a blessing as far as vitamin D is concerned.

Fish

Fish is a great option if you are looking for vitamin d rich foods. Different kinds consist of different amount of Vitamin D.

Atlantic Mackerel: 16.1 µg

Canned salmon: 21 µg

Pink salmon: 10.9 µg

Trout, white fish, roe and tuna type of fish also are vitamin d rich foods. Fish along with vitamin D is also good source of protein.

Milk and milk products

Milk and milk products are vitamin d rich foods that help in meeting vitamin D requirements to prevent vitamin D deficiency symptoms. Different dairy items contain differing amounts of Vitamin D/100 grams of product.

Dehydrated milk: 10.5 µg

Sardine oil

Sardine oil (100 grams) contains about 8.3 µg vitamin D. It is one of the best vitamin d rich foods and is also a rich source of omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, among other that prevent vitamin D deficiency symptoms

Egg yolk

Yolk (100grams) of the egg has 5.4 µg of vitamin D. Egg is also a good source of protein, micronutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin B 12 and iron.

Rich chocolate powder

Chocolate powder contains 9 µg of vitamin D per 100 grams. It is great for your skin and hair too and is one of the best sources of vitamin d rich foods.

Other Vitamin D rich foods

Keeping vegans and vegetarian population in mind, there are several vitamin d rich foods which are fortified with vitamin D such as milk, orange juice and some breads and breakfast cereals that can help avoid vitamin D deficiency symptoms(4).

Fortified milk and fortified orange juice contain 1.3 µg and 1 µg vitamin D per 100 grams respectively (2). Fortified breakfast cereals provide about 2.5 mg vitamin D per serving (4).

There is research work which states that low levels of vitamin D levels are linked to increased risk of fractures, muscle pain, muscle weakness, cardiovascular risk, diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovary syndrome, infections, and autoimmune disorders among other vitamin D deficiency symptoms (5, 6).

Therefore, it is extremely important to intake recommended amounts of vitamin d rich foods. It may be through sunlight exposure, through diet or through supplementation.

References

Wildman, R. (2009) The Nutritionist-Food, Nutrition, and Optimal Health. Vitamins are vital molecules in food 191. Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. Second Edition. New York and London.

National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference Legacy Release, United States Department of Agriculture.

https://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/search/list

Griffing, G. T. (2008) Mother was right about cod liver oil, Medscape journal of medicine. Vol. 10(1).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2258476/

Zhang, R. and Naughton, D.P. (2010) Vitamin D in health and disease: Current perspectives, Nutrition Journal. Vol. 9 (65).

https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-9-65

Singh, P. (2018) Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency and Comorbidities: A Review, Journal of the Association of Physicians of India.Vol.66.

http://japi.org/january_2018/11_ra_Treatment.pdf

DeLuca, H.F. (2004) Overview of general physiologic features and functions of vitamin D, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vol. 80(6).

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/80/6/1689S/4690513