Vitamin D
It’s getting dark in my part of the world and we are going into winter. I look at how we can make sure we get enough of the sunshine vitamin from our diet when we can’t bank on the rays.
Isn’t it crazy that your body gets a vitamin from the sun?!
However, you are not guaranteed to get sufficient vitamin D from the sun alone, certainly not all year long (it really depends on where in the world you are!). And as crucial as this vitamin is to our wellbeing, it’s important to make sure that you get enough of it with the help of your diet.
So what is so great about vitamin D?
For one, it is related to bone health. It helps your body absorb calcium and phosphorus from your gut. One of the most well known symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency is rickets, a bone disease especially common in children in developing countries.
It strengthens your immune system.
It can help protect your body against cancer!
It can help improve your physical strength! HULK SMAAAASH!
This one I love; several studies show that vitamin D helps improve your mental health and reduces risk and/or severity of depression.
It looks like, from studies, that it will generally just help you live longer. Why exactly? Probably a complex combination of reasons, but that certainly sounds like something I’m on board with.
There have been lots of studies done on vitamin D and prevention of Covid-19 infections. Some studies do indeed suggest that people who are low on vitamin D levels were more likely to be infected, and also that people whose vitamin D levels were low were at higher risk of severe symptoms when they did get ill.
Sounds good to me. What can I eat to make sure I get more vitamin D in your diet?
Fish is definitely a good place to look. Cod liver oil and salmon are great sources of vitamin D, as is tuna, herring, mackerel and sardines.
Some vitamin D is also found in egg yolks.
Red meat and liver
Some mushrooms (wild mushrooms exposed to sunlight and grown mushrooms exposed to UV light) will contain some vitamin D. However, mushrooms contain vitamin D2, whereas the animal products I listed above contain vitamin D3, and the latter seems to be more effective.
So this is a bit of a challenging list for vegetarians and especially vegans. If you don’t eat meat or animal products, you might want to consider taking vitamin D supplements, at least through parts of the year. And true enough, it does seem that vegans are at especially high risk of lacking vitamin D. In addition to supplements, try to find products like cereals, juices and plant based milk that has been fortified with vitamin D. It is fairly common, so keep in mind that this might be worth a try!
If you suspect that you are vitamin D deficient, you can find out by having a blood test done. Talk to your doctor to see if this is something they can find out.
Have you ever been vitamin D deficient, or improved your diet to include more of this magical component? I would love to hear your story. Message me on Instagram @TheFromScratchBody!
