Vitamin D: The Sun in a Bottle?

I’m positive all your life you have heard the phrase “go outside and get some vitamin D”. It’s a commonly known fact that we all associate the sun with vitamin D, but in reality our bright shiny star does not actually give us vitamin D. It in fact helps to promote Vitamin D production in your body! So going out side and enjoying the rays is not such a bad idea, because vitamin D provides our bodies with many benefits.

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps to maintain bone density and strength by promoting calcium absorption. When our bodies lack vitamin D, they can become pray to bone degradation and osteoporosis, which in turn can affect your mobility and quality of life. Secondly, vitamin D has been shown in studies that an adequate intake of vitamin D can result in enhancing one’s mood felt by seasonal depression.  However, other studies undertaken have shown conflicting results. In some cases, vitamin D supplementation had little to no effect on one’s mood. One thing to note about vitamin D is that it has not yet been studied to see whether vitamin D can be used to prevent or treat depression and should not be relied on as a sole treatment for depression.

If you are experiencing vitamin D deficiency, then a vitamin D supplement, increased intake of vitamin D rich foods, and/or spending more time under the sunshine can help reduce the risk for respiratory infections. Note, that if you are not experiencing a vitamin D deficiency, we do not recommend you take vitamin D as a means of reducing risk of respiratory infections. Please consult your health care practitioner.

 

If you're looking to increase your vitamin D intake  into your diet, we’ve listed out a few foods that contain vitamin D for you to get you started:

 

Salmon 526IU/100g

Herring 216/100g

Cod Liver Oil 448IU/tspn

Canned Tuna 268IU/100g

Fortified Dairy and Cereals

 

As an essential nutrient, vitamin D supplementation can be beneficial to those who are experiencing vitamin D deficiency. However, with the lack in qualitative research and studies, it is difficult to provide definitive answers when it comes to the benefits of vitamin D. We strongly recommend you consult your health care practitioner to see whether vitamin D supplementation is a good fit for you.