2023-04-27 11:00:00
There are various ways in which we can obtain vitamin D, either through food, or through direct exposure of the skin to sunlight. Because of this latter source, vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin.”
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Why do so many people have low vitamin D in the analytics? According to experts, the adequate amount of vitamin D is approximately 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily. This amount can be obtained through an exposure to the sun of about 15 to 30 minutes two or three times a weekwhich would allow the body to synthesize that amount.
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However, to synthesize vitamin D we must ingest it previously. These are some foods that are rich in said vitamin:
- Fatty fish: salmon, tuna, trout, herring, and mackerel are excellent sources of vitamin D.
- Eggs: Egg yolk is a natural source of vitamin D.
- Cow liver: beef liver is a good source of vitamin D, but should be eaten in moderation due to its high vitamin A content.
- Fungus: some types of mushrooms, such as button mushrooms, contain vitamin D.
- fortified milk: Many brands of milk fortify with vitamin D to increase its nutritional content.
- Fortified cereals: some breakfast cereals, especially whole grain ones, are fortified with vitamin D.
A particularly rich diet in vitamin D is the Mediterranean. In fact, a study of more than 15,000 people over the age of 10 found that those who followed the Mediterranean diet had a lower risk of depression.
This happens because the Mediterranean diet contains an abundance of omega-3s, amino acids, vitamins B and D, and minerals such as zinc, magnesium, and iron.
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A balanced diet is already enough to receive the adequate dose of vitamin D. As he explains JM Mullet in Comer sin miedo: “The White Paper on Nutrition in Spain only points out that at the level of trace elements the normal diet of the average Spaniard can only have deficiencies in zinc and folic acid, and vitamin D in those over fifty years of age”.
The problems of vitamin D deficiency
In population studies, low levels of vitamin D in the body have been linked to an increased risk of many chronic diseases and premature death.
For example, a recent study, published in the European Heart Journal, suggests that people with vitamin D deficiency they are more likely to have heart disease and higher blood pressure than those with normal vitamin D levels. The study used data from up to 267,980 people, allowing the team to provide robust statistical evidence.
The risk of overdose
However, while vitamin D deficiency is a problem, so is a surplus. In fact, taking too much vitamin D has very adverse health effects, and exceeding the safe dose limit is relatively easy.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that 3.2% of all Americans are exceeding that limit because they take two capsules a day (in addition to the vitamin D that is already included in their diet).
Besides, using vitamin supplements also does not appear to have a significant effect on health. A new study from the University of Eastern Finland found that taking a much higher dose of vitamin D than recommended for five years did not affect overall mortality or the incidence of cardiovascular disease or cancer in older men and women.
Another double-blind clinical trial also found that vitamin D supplementation made elderly patients more likely to fall and break a bone.
That said, the best recipe to have vitamin D in the body is to eat foods that contain it and be exposed to the sun in moderate doses to be able to synthesize it correctly.
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