What foods are best for your vitamin D levels?

You have probably heard about vitamin D and how the most natural way to get your daily dose in is via sunshine. But for when that is not possible, you are probably wondering ‘how else can I get my daily dose of vitamin D?’ Luckily, there are foods that contain vitamin D that you can incorporate into your diet to boost your vitamin D levels.

The Reference Daily Intake of vitamin D per day from foods is 600 IU for those between Ages 1-70. Age 71 and older have an RDI of 800 IU. However, if you spend a lot of time indoors or wear sunblock outside, your RDI of vitamin D should be closer to 1,000 IU. A deficiency in vitamin D can result in a number of symptoms including: muscle weakness, changes in mood, thinning or brittle bones, and osteoporosis.

So let’s go on to learn some of the best foods for vitamin D for your reference. You’ll notice that some of the foods with the highest levels of vitamin D are fatty fish, as well as foods that are able to synthesize sunlight just as humans do.

Read also: Which foods are high in potassium? Here’s the list

Best foods to eat for vitamin D

• Canned Tuna A 3.5-ounce serving of canned light tuna provides up to 236 IU of vitamin D.
• Cod Liver Oil 1 teaspoon of cod liver oil provides 450 IU of vitamin D.
• Herring A 3.5-ounce serving of pickled herring provides 680 IU of vitamin D.
• Oysters 1 3.5 oz of wild oysters provides 320 IU of vitamin D.
• Salmon A 3-ounce serving of wild-caught cooked salmon provides 450 IU of vitamin D.
• Shrimp 1 serving of shrimp provides 152 IU of vitamin D.
• Egg Yolks One egg yolk (from chickens raised indoors) contains 18-39 IU of vitamin D. Chickens that are raised outside in the sunlight produce eggs that contain vitamin D at levels up to 3-4 times higher.
• Yogurt Cow’s milk is often fortified with vitamin D in the United States. A 6-ounce serving of yogurt can provide 80 IUs or more.
• Mushrooms A 3.5-ounce serving of (some varieties of) wild mushrooms provides up to 2,300 IU of vitamin D.
• Orange Juice 1 cup of fortified orange juice provides up to 142 IU of vitamin D.

The good news is that if you are consuming any number of these foods in respect of your recommended daily intake as well as getting sunlight exposure that spurs the body to make vitamin D, your vitamin D levels should be in good shape!