What foods contain the most vitamin D

This element is vital for many processes within the body. For example, with a deficiency, normal absorption of calcium is impossible - which means that nails, hair, teeth, bones become fragile and vulnerable. Also, with a lack of vitamin D, metabolism, immunity, the nervous system and muscles suffer. There are suggestions that a low vitamin level directly provokes Vitamin D Deficiency diseases such as:

obesity;
diabetes;
hypertension;
cancer of various types;
autoimmune disorders - for example, multiple sclerosis;
depression.

The required daily intake of vitamin D for people aged 1 to 70 years is 15 mcg (600 IU in international units).

There is a widespread belief that vitamin D supplementation is not necessary. Our body synthesizes the required amount under the influence of sunlight. This is true, but only partially.

To get the daily dose, it is necessary to expose at least 40% of the body to direct sunlight for 20 minutes a day. The average city dweller does not have the opportunity to get such an amount of sunbathing even in summer or in warm regions Vitamin D deficiency: A single center analysis of patients from 136 countries. And if the sun is not enough, the situation is aggravated: the required daily dose of vitamin D increases. An Evaluation of the Vitamin D3 Content in Fish: Is the Vitamin D Content Adequate to Satisfy the Dietary Requirement for Vitamin D? up to 1000 IU (25 μg).

In general, there are no options. Each of us should look for additional sources of the vitamin besides sunlight. Fortunately, this is not that difficult to do. All you need to do is include foods that are guaranteed to replenish your D-reserves.

1. Salmon

100 g of this fish contains on average 9 Healthy Foods That Are High in Vitamin D from 360 to 685 IU of vitamin D. But it is important where exactly the salmon was caught.

Research shows An Evaluation of the Vitamin D3 Content in Fish: Is the Vitamin D Content Adequate to Satisfy the Dietary Requirement for Vitamin D? that fish grown in nature has more vitamin - about 1000 IU per 100 g. That is, a portion of wild salmon covers the daily D-requirement in full. Farmed fish, on the other hand, is less valuable: it contains only 250 IU of vitamin per 100 g.

2. Herring, sardines, mackerel and halibut

More budget-friendly alternatives to salmon.

Fresh Atlantic herring contains on average Fish, herring, Atlantic, raw 1628 IU of vitamin D per 100 gram serving. And this is even more than the daily value.

By the way, don't worry about a possible overdose: a healthy body itself regulates the amount of vitamin supplied with sunlight and food. Excess vitamin D is most often earned by overusing pharmacy dietary supplements.

Pickled herring also contains enough vitamin - an average of 680 IU per 100 g. But this product has a drawback: it contains too much salt.

Other types of oily fish are good:

sardines - about 270 IU per serving;
mackerel - 360 IU per serving Fish, mackerel, Atlantic, raw;
halibut - 600 IU per serving Fish, halibut, Greenland, raw.

3. Fish oil from cod liver

A teaspoon of this type of fish oil contains Vitamin D, cod-liver oil, sunlight, and rickets: a historical perspective about 450 IU of vitamin D. A good claim for success, but remember that excess fish oil can be harmful to health.

4. Canned tuna

What foods contain vitamin D: canned tuna

Its advantage is availability and low cost. 100 g of canned food contains up to 236 IU of vitamin D. In addition, tuna is a source of vitamin K and niacin.

But there are also disadvantages. For example, canned food contains salt. Also, such tuna can have an increased content of mercury Mercury in canned tuna: white versus light and temporal variation. Therefore, you should not eat more than 100-150 g per week.

5. Shrimp

Vitamin D is not that much in them - about 150 IU of Crustaceans, shrimp, mixed species, raw per 100 g. But shrimps have one indisputable advantage: their meat, unlike sea fish fillets, contains a minimum amount of fat.

6. Oysters

One 100-gram serving of wild oysters contains only 68 kilocalories, but 320 IU of Mollusks, oyster, eastern, wild, raw vitamin D, almost a triple dose of vitamin B12 and a lot of copper and zinc necessary for the body.

7. Egg yolks

Option for those who do not like seafood. But here, as in the case of salmon, it is important in what conditions the laying hen lived.

A typical yolk of an egg from an indoor-raised chicken contains only 18-39 IU of Natural vitamin D content in animal products of vitamin D. But free-range chickens under the sun give results 3-4 times higher than Free-range farming: a natural alternative to produce vitamin D-enriched eggs.

The leaders in the content of vitamin D are egg yolks from layers that consumed feed enriched with this vitamin: they contain up to 6000 IU Effects of vitamin D (3) -enriched diet on egg yolk vitamin D (3) content and yolk quality per yolk.

8. Mushrooms grown outdoors

Like humans, mushrooms are able to synthesize vitamin D when exposed to the sun. And in decent quantities: sometimes up to 2300 IU Safety assessment of the post-harvest treatment of button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) using ultraviolet light per 100 g.

But this only applies to mushrooms that had access to sunlight or artificial ultraviolet radiation. Those mushrooms that are grown under standard commercial conditions - in the dark - cannot serve as sources of vitamin D.