Sunshine & Sardines
We just celebrated the winter solstice and the days are FINALLY getting longer. But here in Utah, we’re definitely still in the middle of a dark and cold winter so, let’s talk about vitamin D!
Why should I care about vitamin D? It’s involved in so many important functions in your body, including; regulating bone health and growth, cell growth, brain health, immune function, reducing inflammation, and more. There’s also ongoing research investigating the negative effects that low vitamin D status has on things like; Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, and autoimmune diseases.
How do we get vitamin D? The primary source of vitamin D for most people is sunlight. When skin is exposed to ultraviolet light, the body synthesizes its own vitamin D. But, it can also be found in; fortified milk, liver, egg yolk, salmon, tuna, sardines, mushrooms, and other fortified foods.
When you live in northern latitudes, specially above the 37th parallel, UVB light is weaker in the winter, which makes it very difficult to get enough vitamin D from the sun. Not only is the sunshine weaker in the winter, but we also tend to have less skin exposed because it’s cold. A recent study found that 50% of the population suffers from a vitamin D deficiency (1)!
weak wintertime sun + bundling up = low vitamin D
So, here’s a few tips:
Ask your healthcare provider if you should consider taking a vitamin D supplement in the winter. The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for most adults is 15 mcg or 600 IU. Most supplements provide at least 100% of the RDA
Eat more mushrooms! They’re the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle. Scientists have found that we can amp up the vitamin D content of mushrooms by exposing them to UV light! This article does a nice job of breaking down that research.
Make sure that your milk or non-dairy milk alternative is fortified with vitamin D.
Fatty fish like salmon, sardines, and tuna are all sources of vitamin D.
Look for other foods that are often fortified with vitamin D like cereal, margarine, and orange juice.
3 things I’m loving this week:
Chickpea Mag: I just ordered the latest issue of Chickpea Magazine! Not only does the magazine have great articles and vegan recipes, it’s absolutely GORGEOUS. They also have some cool printables available on the site, I love the seasonal food calendars!
Spicy Beef Lettuce Cups & Green Pepper Cholula: This recipe is relatively high in sodium and saturated fat, but it comes together quickly and is great for low carb diets. @cholula please make a restaurant-style humongous pump bottle of Green Pepper Cholula. We can’t get enough!
Spicy Cold Tofu (Liangban Dofu): This recipe blew my mind, it’s so easy and delicious! We recently made a trip to our local Asian supermarket and attempted to make some Chinese recipes. I made so many labor-intensive dishes for the meal, but this 5-minute recipe was biggest hit of the evening!
Do you take a vitamin D supplement? Let’s take an informal poll in the comments!
Sarah
References
(1) Sizar O, Khare S, Goyal A, Bansal P, Givler A. Vitamin D Deficiency. 2021 Jan 3. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–. PMID: 30335299.y
(2) “Latitude and Vitamin D Production in the Skin.” Harvard Health Publishing, September 2008, https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/time-for-more-vitamin-d. Accessed February 7 2021.
(3) Mahan, L.K., Escott-Stump, S., Raymond, J.L. (2012). Krause’s Food and the Nutrition Care Process. 13th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.; Edinburgh: Elselvier Saunders