How to Get Your Daily Dose of Vitamin D

I do monitor my vitamin D intake, and take supplements when needed. Unfortunately, the Nutrition Information for most of the foods listed in this article (i.e., salmon, tuna, and mackerel) does not include any Vitamin D data. It would be nice if this could be corrected. - 4/19/2013 10:49:11 PM

I hate to be a grammar Nazi, but this article should have had better proofreading; obvious mistakes are kind of distracting to some readers. They make the author and site look unprofessional. - 4/5/2013 10:35:06 AM

This article is very misleading. Vitamin D3 and D2 are not interchangeable. Please check your facts through an Endocrinologist. The advice in this article is incorrect and could cause serious problems with D3 deficient patients. - 4/4/2013 11:27:04 AM

Great article. The one thing I would caution is most doctors just put people on supplements because of their age or background instead of taking the test. Problem is, supplements typically have a VERY low absorption rate (~20%). So the doctor says you are fine because you are taking a supplement and they never actually find out if you are fine. Statistically, you likely still need the test and a diet review. Supplementation is rarely a substitute for diet. - 4/4/2013 10:08:57 AM

The article needs to be corrected re the acceptable levels of Vitamin D. According to my latest blood test taken March 2013, on the blood test results form it's 30 to 100 ng/ml. As I was at 33.5, my doctor advised me to supplement my diet to bring it up more. - 4/4/2013 9:22:15 AM

I didn't realize that vitamin D could be stored in toxic levels. I will definitely try to pay attention to my intake since I do consume a supplement. - 1/1/2013 5:32:03 PM

I think I will be getting a Vitamen D test again in November. I took one in Feburary last year and I was just below and took an over the counter supplement. I suspected it for years because I suffer form some serious seasonal depression and low engergy during the winter months (Nov-Apr) here in South East WI. I walk 2 miles everyday so from Apr-Oct I feel pretty good because I get at least 40 minutes or more of sun exposure wiht no sun screen. It isn't until about this time of year (end of September) that I notice my engery starting to slow down. Then right after Christmas I get cranky tired, depressed and well just want to sleep all day. I am gonna take the test again this year. I think I will do once before winter, in the middle and right after, and then in the middle of summer. - 9/19/2012 10:09:43 AM

I asked my doctor a couple of years ago about the blood test for vitamin D and he told me that the test was over $100, and , "You are past 50, you are deficient." He recommended Caltrate with D3 by name (his preference) to bring me up to par. Like anything else, it works if you make yourself take the supplements (they are to be taken with food for best absorption) I forget. - 8/4/2012 7:07:01 PM

VITAMIN D IS LINKED TO CHILDHOOD OBESITY BECAUSE OUR KIDS DON'T GO OUTSIDE QND PLAY ANY MORE! When I was a kid, our parents were always saying, "Go outside and play!" I even had q friend who's mother locked her qnd her siblings out of the house from 9 am until noon, and from 12:30 until five pm! No sunshine plus no playing equals fat kids! Duh!!! - 8/4/2012 11:59:40 AM

Good article ( from 2009) and Yes, Outdated. Supplements are essential. You can not get enough vitamin D from diet. As a Naturopath I suggest all my clients take at least 1000 IUs per day. - 8/4/2012 7:05:20 AM

Thanks, for this article.It is interestingly packed with valuable and useful information, well, for me it is. Most unusual was the the part about "Vitamin D3 from the skins of animals and from sheep's wool; after reading that I began to itch:-). However, I totally agree with the vegetarian consensus, in using the D2 form instead of D3 as supplementation.

You also have two links that I found to important and are filled with helpful and useful pieces information and I plan on utilizating them. The link, " How to Get Your Daily Dose of Vitamin D" comments that among 3 foods, egg yolks contain vitamin D naturally. This is the planned link to utilize after gathering additional information and discussing the it with my physician or medical staff.
- 4/1/2011 1:29:55 PM

For those whose doctors prescribe vitamin D for specific medical conditions, please follow your doctor's advice.

For those who take Vitamin D because they think it's a good idea or because the doc said they should but who do not have a medical condition, think long and hard about whether you need it. There was a big push of vitamin D and now it turns out that we don't need it, that a review of the medical literature published on the need for extra vitamin D was biased or misinterpreted. Excess of any vitamin that isn't water soluble isn't good for you. I have always expected better of Spark but I am beginning to question the health and medical advice published here. - 1/3/2011 12:40:22 PM

My doctor tested my Vitamin D levels at may annual physical and I was on the low side of the lowest range. I started with a prescription supplement to get it back to a good level, then switched to an over-the-counter D3 version to maintain it. My doctor would not recommend that I get in the sun because I am fair-skinned and susceptible to burning - even at 10 minutes.

I find the links to other diseases/conditio
ns quite interesting too. My dad had prostate caner and colon cancer then eventually bone cancer. Diabetes is also a factor for me from my mother's side and I was diagnosed with it several years ago. I will be interested to see what happens to me in the future now that I'm keeping my Vitamin D levels up. - 12/8/2010 9:34:51 AM

Vitamin D is easier to get in the diet than you think. The reason people are becoming deficient in vitamin D, along with avoiding sun exposure, is that for decades dietitians and doctors have been telling people to avoid many foods that contain vitamin D, like: butter, eggs, organs, animals fat, fish/shellfish and fish oils.

Food sources of vitamin D are also impaired by modern industrial farming and processing. Milk and milk products will contain more nutrients, including Vitamin D, if the cows are in the sun eating green grass, not if inside eating corn. Pig fat, LARD, is the second highest source of Vitamin D, behind cod liver oil, if the pig was outside exposed to sunlight. It won't if the pig has been confined inside all its life. The same goes for chickens if they are not exposed to sunlight by free roaming and eating insects, unless their diet is supplemented with fish meal (and who wants that?). You know your eggs are nutritious if the yolk is a dark yellow or even all the way to orange. Farm raised salmon will also be low in Vitamin D because of a deficient diet.

It's also harder to get sufficient Vitamin D with sun exposure for a number of reasons: time of year, time of day, time spent in the sun, latitude and genetics. So unless you work outside daily you're unlikely to get enough from sun exposure alone.

The article also neglects to mention that artificial forms of Vitamin D, like many artificial fat soluble vitamins, tend to do the opposite of what their natural counterparts do. I don't trust what the food industry will use to supplement a food so just don't eat supplemented foods or trust that you're getting what you need.

And lastly: one of the biggest reasons people don't get enough Vitamin D in their diets: FAT PHOBIA. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and works synergistically with the fats they are found in. If your fear and revulsion of fats and cholesterol cause you to lob out your yolks, drink skim or soy milk, cut off or don't eat the fat on your meat, eat low- and non-fat everything, then it's your fau... - 12/6/2010 9:40:12 AM

It's such an easy test. My internist tested for D when he did my usual bloodwork, and I was deficient. So I've been taking 1,000 units of D, and it's normal now. - 10/31/2010 7:23:20 PM