BOOST YOUR VITAMIN D LEVELS NATURALLY
Registered dietitian, Lucy Perrow (yourhealthdietitian.com), of the British Dietetic Association, shares some of her tips for topping up your levels of the sunshine vitamin.
Sunlight
Vitamin D isn’t found in many foods, so it’s recommended you get at least five-to-30 minutes of sun exposure daily. This means sunlight on hands, arms, legs or face while uncovered by clothes or sunscreen. But it’s a balancing act, because too much sun exposure can increase risk of skin cancer, so do limit your sun exposure to the stated times. However, in the UK, you can’t usually get enough sunlight between October and March. So around early spring is when most people are most deficient in the vitamin, having gone all winter with lack of UVB.
This means a vitamin D supplement of 10 mcg per day is recommended. Year-round supplementation is important for people with darker skin tones as less UV light can penetrate into deeper layers of skin, where vitamin D is made.
Oily fish
Because vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, it tends to be found in fatty or oily foods. About one large fillet or 140 grams of fish, such as salmon or mackerel, would approximately provide the recommended intake. Or one teaspoon of cod liver oil contains about 34 mcg.
Mushrooms
When grown in UV light these are a great veggie and vegan way to get vitamin D from food. About two Portobello mushrooms, four chestnut mushrooms or 14 button mushrooms would provide your daily allowance. The Uv-light mushrooms are widely available in supermarkets – likely to be labelled as ‘high in vitamin D’ or ‘vitamin enriched’ on the packaging.
Eggs
These are a good source of vitamin D, but you’d have to eat six-to-10 per day to meet your recommended daily dose! Instead, include them regularly in your diet to count towards your vitamin D intake.
Cereals
Many breakfast cereals are fortified with vitamin D. A 30g serving provides about 1.5 mcg. So, this counts towards your daily intake. Some brands of soy, almond, oat or cow’s milk have vitamin D added to them, so check the label.