Vit. D?

[bsaz]

According to the fitday chart, I am very low on Vit. D intake.
Any suggestions on what I can eat to pump that up?

[Luckygir15]

Take a vitamin that has vitamin D. Or try and get 10-15 minutes of natural sunlight in a day.

[tandoorichicken]

The average person gets at least the daily recommended amount of vitamin D from spending 15 minutes in direct sunlight. Lighter-skinned people can get even more from the same. If you have naturally darker skin, you may have to spend more time outside. Luckily, you don't have to do it all at once, you can do it in 5-10 min spurts throughout the day.

[almeeker]

I agree with the above and would also add that soy milk has added vitamin D and fish contains a fair amount.

[avelina]

The milk I buy is fortified with vitamin D. The sunlight and vitamin supplements are also good suggestions.

[montanacricket]

When I went to the doc in December, he said that the recommendation for Vitamin D is now closer to 800 units per day, double what it used to be. This is mainly for people in the higher latitudes like me and north of here (and the far south) because our days are so short in spring, summer and fall, and also the tilt of the sun through the atmosphere means that more sunlight is filtered before it gets to the surface of the earth.

I take a supplement of D and Calcium together. My uncle was recently diagnosed (good weight, very active guy) with osteoporosis and has compression fractures in his spine--he's in his 50's. NOT what I want. I'd rather take the supplement and have too much Calcium/D than end up with osteoporosis.

[tandoorichicken]

Originally Posted by montanacricket

he said that the recommendation for Vitamin D is now closer to 800 units per day, double what it used to be.

I think the number is actually 8000 IU (missed a zero). The old recommendations used to be below 5000. I've read that 15 minutes of sun exposure (maybe 20-30 at high latitudes) generates 10,000 IU and dumps it directly into the blood stream. Funny that...

It's still important to get D through diet though, as it facilitates calcium and magnesium absorption in the gut. D in the blood might be good for other things (mood, cellular health, metabolism), but it does nothing for mineral absorption.

[montanacricket]

Originally Posted by tandoorichicken

I think the number is actually 8000 IU (missed a zero). The old recommendations used to be below 5000. I've read that 15 minutes of sun exposure (maybe 20-30 at high latitudes) generates 10,000 IU and dumps it directly into the blood stream. Funny that...

It's still important to get D through diet though, as it facilitates calcium and magnesium absorption in the gut. D in the blood might be good for other things (mood, cellular health, metabolism), but it does nothing for mineral absorption.

I'm looking at my vitamin bottles right now and it says that the US RDA is 400 IU's for vitamin D, the note my doc wrote was for 800 IU's daily. So I'm not sure now.

[tandoorichicken]

You're right. The recommendations are for 800 IU. But up to 5000 IU is safe and helps with inflammation. I think I was confusing with another vitamin.

[Wylie7]

A lack of vitamin D can have a huge effect on an active lifestyle. My doc recommended adding 1000 IU of vitamin D because I was having trouble recovering from workouts (dizziness, blurred vision, headaches). After a week, of Vitamin D I could increase my workouts from 20 minutes to 1 hour. I live in a more northern location and get a rash if I expose my skin to the spring, summer and fall sun for more than 5 or 10 minutes at a time without protection, so supplements are important.

I get my vit D from my calcium supplement, soy milk, fortified OJ and vit D supplements. If you google vitamin D, you'll find a lot of information on natural sources (including Wikipedia).