What foods are rich in vitamin D?
In this article:
What does vitamin D do in our bodies?
How much vitamin D do you need?
What are the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency?
6 foods that contain vitamin D
Vitamin D supplement
Vitamin D toxicity
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| vitamin D |
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin with many vital functions in the body Vitamin D is a unique nutrient in that we get it from food sources, but our bodies can also produce it. In fact, there are three ways you can get vitamin D -- from sunlight, from food, and from vitamin D supplements.
Exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays converts cholesterol in the skin into vitamin D3, a form of vitamin D. Vitamin D3 then enters the blood and is transported to the liver and kidneys where it is converted to its bioactive form (calcitriol). Because our bodies naturally make vitamin D as a result of skin exposure to sunlight, it is often referred to as the sunshine vitamin.
What does vitamin D do in our bodies?
Most of us know that vitamin D is important for bone growth, and it certainly is. Vitamin D3 aids in calcium absorption, which helps keep bones strong. When you don't get enough vitamin D, you risk developing diseases such as rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. This is why the US government began supplementing milk with vitamin D in the 1930s -- rickets was a huge health problem at the time.
But vitamin D is not just essential for bone health -- it has many important functions in the body including maintaining healthy muscles, nerves, and the immune system, and modulating healthy cell growth. The vitamin can also lower the risk of certain types of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, and offer protection against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, and certain types of cancer. However, most of this evidence comes from observational studies, so interventional studies of vitamin D supplementation should be performed to determine its role in combating these diseases.
How much vitamin D do you need?
From birth to 12 months :
10 micrograms (400 IU)
1 to 13 years :
15 micrograms (600 international units)
14 to 18 years :
15 micrograms (600 international units)
19 to 70 years :
15 micrograms (600 international units)
71 years and over :
Pregnant and lactating women :
15 micrograms (600 international units)
Currently, there are many scientific debates about the ideal dose of vitamin D. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) has been set by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to be 600 international units (IU) per day for adults 19 to 30 years of age, and 800 international units (IU) for those over 70 years old. The recommended amount provides the appropriate daily dose to maintain bone health and normal calcium metabolism in healthy people, and is based on minimal exposure to sunlight. But many groups recommend much higher doses of vitamin D, according to the latest research. For example, the Endocrine Society recommends a dose of 1,500 to 2,000 IU to reach adequate blood levels of vitamin D.
What are the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency?
What are the best ways to get the right dose of vitamin D One way is exposure to sunlight. Just 10 to 15 minutes of sun exposure can provide you with 3,000 to 20,000 IU. The problem is that the dose of vitamin D we get from exposure to sunlight varies greatly depending on several factors including geographic latitude and skin color. Sunlight is generally poor in northern latitudes, resulting in less vitamin D synthesis. Also, dark-skinned people generally need more sun exposure to synthesize vitamin D, as melanin reduces the body's ability to produce vitamin D from sunlight.
Vitamin D deficiency has again emerged as a global health problem. About one million people around the world suffer from a vitamin D deficiency. Some experts believe that vitamin D deficiency combined with behaviors that limit exposure to UV rays (such as time spent outdoors, use of sunscreen, and use of protective clothing to cover the skin completely) has led to widespread vitamin D deficiency. Elderly people, hospital residents, and residents of nursing homes are especially at risk. Many suffer not only from insufficient exposure to sunlight, but also from limited daily dietary intake and/or impaired kidney function, which limits the conversion of vitamin D to its active form.
Many patients with vitamin D deficiency do not show symptoms of deficiency. Others may experience symptoms such as muscle pain or cramps, bone pain, weakness, fatigue, and mood changes. With prolonged vitamin D deficiency, infants and children can develop rickets, a condition characterized by soft bones and skeletal abnormalities such as bowed legs. In adults, prolonged vitamin D deficiency can cause osteomalacia, which is characterized by weak and soft bones, and can lead to frequent fractures.
6 foods that contain vitamin D
In the absence of exposure to the sun's ultraviolet shafts, acceptable input of vitamin D is necessary to help insufficiency. Still, there are fairly many food sources rich in vitaminD. Fortified foods give the utmost vitamin D in the American diet. Then are some food sources of vitamin D
1. Unctuous fish like salmon, sardines, and mackerel
.A 3-ounce serving of sardines provides 645 IU of vitamin D, which is further than 100 percent of your diurnal requirements. The quantum of vitamin in fresh salmon ranges from 383 to 570 transnational units per three ounce serving, depending on the type of salmon. Some studies have shown that wild salmon may contain significantly further vitamin D than farmed salmon. Some other types of fish rich in vitamin D include halibut, complaint, swordfish, and catfish.
2. Canned fish similar as tuna, sardines, and herring
. Canned fish also contains high quantities of vitamin D, so if seafood is not an option for you, you can try canned fish, which is generally less precious. 3 ounces of light tuna in a water result contains about 154 IU of vitaminD.
Canned tuna formerly contains methylmercury, a poisonous substance plant in numerous types of fish. Still, certain types of tuna, similar as light tuna, pose a lower threat. It's considered safe when you eat up to six ounces of canned tuna per week.
3 ounces of canned sardine canvas contains 164 IU of vitaminD. Pickled herring is also a good source of the vitamin but may contain large quantities of sodium.
3. Cod liver canvas.
Cod liver canvas is an canvas uprooted from the liver of cod fish. Historically, it was used considerably in the early 1920s to help and treat rickets. One teaspoon of cod liver canvas contains transnational units of vitaminD.
4. Mushroom
With the exception of fortified foods, mushrooms are the only submissive food source of vitaminD. Like humans, mushrooms synthesize vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet shafts. Still, mushrooms produce a different form of the vitamin than humans-they produce vitamin D2 rather of D3.
For mushrooms that grow in the wild, vitamin D conflation occurs naturally by exposure to sun. In commercially grown mushrooms, this conflation occurs by exposure to UV lights.
Although commercially grown mushrooms generally grow in the dark, exposing them to UV shafts after crop greatly enhances their vitamin D content. A mug of UV- exposed cremini mushroom contains IU of vitaminD.
5. eggs
Eggs are a accessible way to get vitamin D, and they can be included in a variety of fashions. Still, keep in mind that the vitamin D in eggs is in the thralldom, not the white-- so do not throw out the thralldom.
One egg thralldom provides about 41 transnational units. The USDA plant that eggs contain 64 further vitamin D than they did in the history when anatomized in 2002. This is due to changes in the diet of cravens by egg directors similar as the use of vitamin D-rich feeds. Country eggs, which come from hens that are allowed to bat outdoors, also contain significantly advanced quantities of vitamin D than eggs from inner hens.
6. Fortified foods :
Fortified foods are those foods that have added nutrients that aren't naturally present in them. Since many foods naturally contain vitamin D, fortified foods give the utmost vitamin D in our diet. Utmost cow's milk is fortified with about 120 IU of vitamin D per mug. Milk also . For those who do not drink milk, factory- grounded dairy druthers ( similar as soy, almond, and oats) are generally fortified with analogous quantities of vitaminD.
Enjoying a glass of orange juice at the morning of your day is also a good way to increase your vitamin D input. One glass of fortified orange juice provides about 100 IU, but varies by brand. And if you enjoy cereal with some fortified milk, you are formerly getting double the recommended cure of vitaminD.
Yogurt is also a accessible, nutrient-rich snack that can give stomach-friendly calcium, protein and probiotics. A serving of yogurt provides about 10-20 of your diurnal vitamin D demand, depending on the brand. Tofu can be a good source of vitamin D for insectivores who may struggle to meet their diurnal vitamin D recommendations. Not all tofu is fortified, but those fortified types give about 100 IU per3.5 ounce serving.
Vitamin D supplement
Vitamin D supplement on rustic table
Still, you can take a vitamin D supplement, If you're concerned about not getting enough vitamin D through exposure to sun and food sources. Vitamin D in supplements comes in two different forms. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), which It comes from factory sources, and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), which comes from beast sources. Both are well absorbed in the stomach and increase the situations of vitamin D in the blood. Still, utmost substantiation suggests that vitamin D3 raises blood situations of the vitamin more and maintains these situations longer than vitamin D2.
Certain groups are more at threat of developing a vitamin D insufficiency and should consider taking a vitamin supplement. These groups are
- Breastfed babies Bone milk is a poor source of vitaminD.
- Aged grown-ups Their skin is less effective at producing vitamin D when exposed to sun, and the feathers do not convert the vitamin into its active form moreover.
- People with limited exposure to the sun, similar as people at home, sanitarium residers, nursing home residers, those who wear sunscreen, and those who work in jobs that limit spending time outdoors.
- Dark-bearded people The melanin in the skin reduces the skin's capability to make vitaminD.
- People with conditions that limit fat immersion, similar as cystic fibrosis, Crohn's complaint, or celiac complaint Vitamin D needs fat to be absorbed in the stomach.
- People who are fat Body fat binds to some vitamin D and prevents it from reaching the blood.
- People who have had gastric bypass surgery The part of the upper small intestine, where vitamin D is absorbed, is bypassed after surgery.
Vitamin D toxin
Vitamin D can come dangerous when its situations in the blood are too high. The upper tolerable limit (UL) is the maximum diurnal input of a nutrient that isn't likely to have adverse health goods. The upper limit for vitamin D in grown-ups and children 9 times of age and aged is 4000 IU
When vitamin D toxin occurs, it's generally from supplementation. Low quantities of vitamin D in foods are doubtful to reach a poisonous position. Dragged exposure to sun is doubtful to beget toxin because the body has essential mechanisms to limit the quantities of vitamin D it produces.
Symptoms of vitamin D toxin include nausea, puking, dropped appetite, constipation, weight loss, weakness, confusion, irregular twinkle, and damage to the heart and feathers. It's recommended that you don't take vitamin D supplements containing further than IU per day unless directed by your croaker.
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