Your body is an amazing machine. It fuels itself in a number of ways. It draws in oxygen and eliminates carbon dioxide, changes food to fuel and changes sunlight to nutrients it needs. That’s right, the sun’s ultraviolet rays changes cholesterol into vitamin D. However, too much exposure to the sun can cause skin cancer, so an alternative to getting the vitamin D you need is to eat foods high in Vitamin D.
Vitamin D is vital for your health and many people lack it.
If you get vitamin D from the sun, it seems like you’d get enough, right? Not necessarily. Most people don’t spend much time out in the sun as much today. When they do, they often have clothing covering most of their skin, unless they’re on vacation or at the beach. That doesn’t happen daily for most of us. With the dangers of skin cancer, even when people are outside, they often block the rays of the sun. One study showed about 42% of the adult population in the US has a shortage of vitamin D. What’s the danger of too little vitamin D? Vitamin D boosts your immune system. In fact, another study found that 80% of covid-19 patients were low on vitamin D. Too little vitamin D can lead to muscle weakness, osteoporosis, cancer, death and depression. So what is the best way to make sure you have enough?
Eat a health diet and include these foods.
Many of the foods that have vitamin D are Vitamin D fortified. There’s fortified orange juice, milk, cereal, tofu and even yogurt. They even have a new type of mushroom that’s exposed to ultraviolet lights, which they convert and become higher in vitamin D. Food naturally high in vitamin D include liver, fatty fish, fish roe, lard from free-range pork, eel, duck fat, cod liver oil and eggs. If the source is from an animal, how it’s raised makes a difference. It’s better if it’s free-range or grass-fed.
Additional benefits of some vitamin D foods.
Fatty fish, like salmon, are good sources of vitamin D and also a good sources of healthy fat. The type of salmon you choose does make a difference for both. Wild salmon has about four times as much vitamin D as farmed salmon and more omega 3 fatty acids. The same is true of grass-fed or free-range land animals, rather than those in factory farms. For instance, grass fed animal products have increased amounts of vitamin A, omega-3 and CLA.
- The older you are, the more vitamin D you need. People between age one and age seventy need about 600 IU of vitamin D each day, but once you pass the age of 70, the amount increases to 800 IU.
- Adequate vitamin D is important to dental and bone health. It helps the absorption of both calcium and phosphorous so teeth can repair and rebuild themselves.
- While you can get much of your vitamin D from diet, it’s hard. Getting some time in the sun is important. Safe sunning, can help you do that.
- There are several types of vitamin D, but just two main forms are found in food, vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3. D2 comes primarily from plant sources and D3 from animal sources.
For more information, contact us today at IronFit San Antonio