5 Foods That Provide Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a critical nutrient that most people aren’t getting enough of. Recommendations range from 600-1,200 IU per day and as Summer rolls in, sunlight is an easy way to get more vitamin D. If you’ve had all the golden rays you can handle, you can also get Vitamin D from food.

Here are 5 foods that can supply you with Vitamin D:

1) Egg Yolks
The egg white is where most of the protein is and the yolk is where the fat, vitamins, and minerals are hiding. An egg from a commercially-raised chicken has 18-39 IU of vitamin D. Pasture-raised chickens that are able to roam outside in the sun lay eggs that contain 3 times that amount!

2) Mushrooms
While most varieties of mushrooms aren’t real high in vitamin D (a medium button mushroom gets you about 1 IU) they’re still the only thing in the produce section that will provide you with any vitamin D. There are now some brands that expose the mushrooms to UV light, giving them even more vitamin D potential and taking the number up to 130-145 IU.

3) Wild-Caught Fatty Fish
Fish is the most efficient way to get more vitamin D in your diet. It’s worth noting that, just like our previous two foods, the living conditions of the plant/animal greatly affect the amount of vitamin D. Just 3.5 oz of wild-caught salmon gets you 988 IUs, while the same amount of farm-raised salmon only yields 245 IU. Branching out a little, Fresh Atlantic Herring comes in at 1,628 IU (!) for the same serving and pickled herring contains around 600 IU. Canned tuna (3 oz) yields 154 IU.

4) Milk
Most dairy milk is fortified with vitamin D and an 8 ounce glass contains 100 IU of it. Milk alternatives like almond milk and soy milk are usually also fortified and contain between 150 IU and 180 IU.

5) Shrimp
One medium-size shrimp contains about 9 IU of vitamin D and a typical serving of 4oz can net you 170 IUs.

SOURCES
Vitamin D Fact Sheet for Health Professionals
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/#h2

An Evaluation of the Vitamin D3 Content in Fish: Is the Vitamin D Content Adequate to Satisfy the Dietary Requirement for Vitamin D?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2698592/

6 Foods That Will Help You Get More Vitamin D
https://www.menshealth.com/nutrition/a19544732/best-vitamin-d-foods/

9 Healthy Foods That Are High in Vitamin D
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-foods-high-in-vitamin-d#section1

Crustaceans, shrimp, mixed species, raw
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4172/2

PHOTO
Photo by Joseph Gonzalez on Unsplash