The Best Vitamin D FoodsWe really need Vitamin D foods. Vitamin D is created when our skin takes in sunlight, and we don't get enough sun, especially in the winter. Many healers say that most people have a deficiency, since we tend to avoid the sun and work indoors. It seems we all have Nature Deficit Disorder, a lack of nature connection and sunlight! Vitamin D health benefits: Vitamin D helps to create strong bones and teeth, builds immunity, helps skin conditions, help with depression and mood disorders, and lowers cancer risk. Vitamin D boosts immunity and may prevent the flu. I recall Dr. Andrew Weill got in trouble with some government agency for saying the Vitamin D cures the flu.. so I'd better be careful! But I know what I'll be doing instead of a flu shot. The current daily value for Vitamin D is 400 IU. But many healer believe it should be 1,000-1,2000 IU. They say we will soon see a revision in the recommendation for vitamin D. We shall see! What are the Best Vitamin D foods? --- Fatty fish, especially herring, salmon, Mackerel, sardines and albacore tuna. Wild or wild caught salmon are excellent sources. Farmed salmon is not a good source. Sockeye salmon can't be farmed, so it's a good choice of salmon. -- Canned fish counts, too. Canned sardine, mackerel and tuna are good source of Vitamin D ---Cod liver oil. THe Weston Price foundation, the experts on traditional diets and fats, says Carlson is a good brand. Cod liver oil has many benefits: the fatty acids DHA, EPA, Vitamin A, Vit D are all good for you. But don't overdue cod liver oil, as Vitamin A can be toxic in excess. The usual recommendation is 1 Tbsp a day. I would take occasional breaks from it, too. ---Sun dried shiitake mushrooms. The sun dried mushrooms absorb vitamin D from the sun and you receive it when you eat mushrooms. Sun dried mushrooms have more than fresh mushrooms. --- UV exposed fresh mushrooms. Someone discovered that you can raise the Vitamin D in any mushroom by exposing it to UV light, so some food companies are exposing mushrooms to high intensity artificial UV rays. Mushrooms in a tanning bed! Mushrooms contain a component called ergosterol that gets converted to vitamin D when exposed to UV light. One brand using this method is Monterrey Mushrooms. I've seen them at the local grocery. And a bonus: they have organic mushrooms. You can read more about the company here: http://www.montereymushrooms.com/nutrition/mushrooms-with-vitamin-d/ A single 3-ounce serving these UV mushrooms has 100 percent of the recommended daily intake for vitamin D. That's 400cIU. Many healers think they will soon be revised to much higher levels. ---Milk, cheese, beef liver and egg yolks have some amount of Vitamin D, but not much. Milk is fortified with D2 or D3. --Fortified Rice and Soy milk. These "milks" are often fortified with vitamin D2. Two kinds: D2 and D3 Vitamin D2 is made from irradiated fungus and plant material. It's the form usually prescribed by doctors. D2 was used in the past to cure rickets in children during the Industrial Revolution. D2 is called ergocalciferol. Some packaged Foods are fortified with D2. And it's found in sun dried or UV exposed mushrooms. Vitamin D3 is what our skin makes when it is exposed to sunlight. And D3 can be in a supplement from animal sources, such as sheep lanolin, or fish oils. It is called cholecaliferol. D3 in food is in fatty fish, egg yolks and raw milk. Pasteurized milk is usually fortified with either D2 or D3. Other dairy products like cheese may not be fortified with D. So which form is the best? Some healers say they are equally effective, others say D3 is the better choice. Dr Mercola prefers D3. He cites a meta analysis by the Cochrane Database which shows that Vitamin D3 users has a 6% reduced risk of mortality, while D3 users has a 2% increase in mortality risk! Vitamin D is fat soluble Dr Mercola and other doctors say that if you take a supplement beyond 400 IU, you need to be monitored with blood tests. Vitamin D is fat soluble, so it could potentially build up in your body and become toxic. Vitamin D from sunlight never causes toxicity, though. Sunlight is still the best source of Vitamin D, and it's a lot more fun than going to a doctor and getting blood tests. Nature heals us in so many ways. Let the sunshine in.
Vitamin D expert Dr. Micheal F. Holick, MD. says: --Exposure of a person in a bathing suit to sun for 15-20 minutes at noon is equivalent to taking 20,000 IU of vitamin D orally. And there's no risk of toxicity. --It's now well documented that without sun exposure we need 1,000 IU of Vitamin D a day. --There is no substantiated scientific evidence that shows moderate sun exposure increases skin cancer. Most melanomas, the deadly form of skin cancer, occur in the least sun exposed areas. Sensible sun exposure is necessary for health! THe website of Dr. Holick: http://vitamindhealth.org/ Amounts of Vitamin D in foods USDA National Nutrient Data Base: http://www.nal.usda.gov Natural Sources IU Vitamin D/Serving Herring : 1383 per 3 ounces Herring, pickled : 578 per 3 ounces Salmon, pink, canned : 530 per 3 ounces Halibut : 510 per 3 ounces Cod liver oil : 450 per teaspoon Catfish : 425 per 3 ounces Mackerel, Atlantic : 306 per 3 ounces Oyster : 272 per 3 ounces Shiitake mushrooms, dried: 249 per 4 Sardines, pacific, canned in tomato sauce: 213 per 1/2 cup or 182 per sardine Sardines, Atlantic, canned in oil 203 per 1/2 cup or 33 per sardine Tuna, light meat, canned in oil: 200 per 3 ounces Shrimp : 129 per 3 ounces Egg, cooked : 26 per whole egg 25 per yolk Fortified Sources IU Vitamin D/Serving Tofu, fortified : 120 per 1/5 block Cow's milk, all types: 100 per 8 ounces Milk, canned evaporated: 102 per 4 ounces Rice milk, fortified : 100 per 8 ounces Soy milk, fortified : 100 per 8 ounces Orange juice, fortified: 100 per 8 ounces Pudding, made with fortified milk: 50 per 1/2 cup Cereal, fortified : 40 per serving Yogurt, fortified (Danimals): 40 per 1/2 cup So enjoy a variety of vitamin D foods, and get some sun, it will lift your spirit! Return from vitamin D foods to home page |
