Are you getting enough vitamin D? Four ways to get vitamin D

Vitamin D is important for your overall health. Here are four ways that you can get enough vitamin D:

Get some sun

Probably the most traditional method of increasing your vitamin D levels is by exposing a large area of your skin to the sun for 15-20 minutes without sunscreen. The outer layer of the skin, the epidermis, absorbs the ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. Certain factors impact how much vitamin D3 your skin will product:

• Amount of skin exposed: when we say ‘a large area of your skin’, we mean more than just your face and your hands. Your back, abdomen, legs, and arms represent a large area of skin, therefore are the parts of your body that make the most vitamin D. Colour of skin: the darker your skin, the more time you need to stay in the sun for your skin to manufacture the same amount of vitamin D as somebody with a paler complexion.
• Time of day: your skin will absorb the most UVB rays from the sun midday.
• Season: your skin will produce more vitamin D from the sun during the summer.
• Location: those who live closer to the equator are able to produce more vitamin D regardless of the season.

A special note: Many health authorities are cautious about too much sun exposure. Infants are advised to be kept out of direct exposure to sunlight.

Consume foods that naturally contain vitamin D

Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. If you are a lover of sardines, then you are in luck. This is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, but you’ll have to eat a lot of them in order to get a decent amount of vitamin D. To be specific, you would need to eat 4.2 oz (or 120 g) of sardines in order to get to just 600 IU vitamin D. Most medical organizations recommend that you get a greater amount of vitamin D per day than this. Read more on vitamin D in foods here.

Foods that are enriched with vitamin D

Since so few foods naturally contain vitamin D, you might have better luck with foods that are enriched with vitamin D, such as fortified milk, some cereals, and certain types of bread.

Take a vitamin D supplement

If you are having a hard time getting enough sunlight during the day on most of your body, or eating fish and drinking milk in sufficient amounts on a daily basis, then you might want to consider a vitamin D supplement. Many multivitamins contain vitamin D but double-check the dosage to ensure they contain the recommended levels. Check with your healthcare professional and look for a vitamin D product that provides the right amount for you. Liquid vitamin D formats like Ddrops® are easy to swallow and easily absorbed.