Sources of Vitamin D - Discover In How Many Ways You Can Reap The Health Benefits of Vitamin D!

What are the sources of vitamin D? How much vitamin D should you take daily and do you need supplements? Find out how you can reap the health benefits of the "sunshine" vitamin here.

Vitamin D can be classified as a fat soluble vitamin that is manufactured by our body itself, or is acquired through other sources. It is also known as the "sunshine vitamin", as sunlight is among the most widespread and important sources of vitamin D.

What Are the Major Sources of Vitamin D?

There are 2 major sources through which our body derives its vitamin D requirements -

1) Food sources rich in vitamin D
2) Exposure to Sunlight

Food Sources Rich in Vitamin D

The food's rich in vitamin D include --

1) In the United States, fortified foods comprise as the main vitamin D rich food sources. Rickets (a disease that causes bone deformities in children) used to be a common problem in the US till the 1930s. Then, fortification of food products was started to curb vitamin D deficiency in the population.

In the US, milk is fortified with 400 IU or 10 mcg of vitamin D per quart. One cup of fortified milk provides around one fourth of the daily vitamin D requirements for adults. Other milk products such as yogurt, ice cream and cheese are generally not vitamin D fortified.

2) Other foods that are rich in vitamin D are fatty fish such as sardines, mackerel, tuna, salmon and kipper. Fatty Fish oils including cod liver oil are also among the richest sources of vitamin D.

Exposure to Sunlight

Sunlight exposure is also an excellent source of vitamin D. The ultraviolet UV rays found in sunlight cause vitamin D synthesis in our skin. This helps to create vitamin D in our body itself.

Many factors affect this vitamin D synthesis such as -

* Latitude of the place
* Season
* Clouds
* Timing in the day
* Sunscreen, etc.

So, it is not that sunlight actually contains vitamin D, but its ultraviolet rays are essential for our skin cells to produce vitamin D.

Sunscreens having SPF of 8 or greater block the UV rays and hinder the production of vitamin D in the skin. But, applying sunscreen becomes essential when exposure to sun is for time durations longer than 10 to 20 minutes.

Do You Need Vitamin D Supplements?

Individuals who have a very limited exposure to sun should include vitamin D supplements and foods rich in vitamin D in their diet.

Also, in case you are on a low-fat diet or are dark skinned or suffer from any condition that limits your body's fat absorbing ability, then you may need to take vitamin D supplements to replenish its daily requirement.

The recommended daily value (DV) set by the FDA is 400 IU (international units).

The DV is a measure through which consumers can tell which foods can be classified as good vitamin D sources. Those foods which provide at least 10% DV of vitamin D in a serving are considered as good sources of vitamin D.

Similarly, those food sources that provide at least 20% or more of vitamin D daily value (DV) in one serving are regarded as excellent vitamin D sources and those foods providing less than 5% are classified as low vitamin D sources.

According to the FDA, even low vitamin D sources contribute to good health and a healthy diet.

Supplementary Sources of Vitamin D

It becomes important to add supplementary vitamin D sources if you --

• Live in the northern states
• Restrict your exposure to sunlight
• Suffer from any disorder that affects your body's fat absorption ability

Supplementing vitamin D only through food sources might be difficult if you suffer from gluten sensitivity or are intolerant to lactose. This is the reason why many people resort to supplements to make sure that they get enough of this vital nutrient.

Total Balance: A Comprehensive Product

We personally take a comprehensive nutritional supplement called Total Balance. It contains more than 70 kinds of nutrients including vitamin D. It is scientifically formulated with a wide spectrum of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, speciality nutrients and potent herbal extracts.

We give it our vote of confidence after many years of personally using it and researching various supplements. We believe Total Balance is among the best and most comprehensive health supplement that is available in the market today.