According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Three-Quarters of US adults are deficient in Vitamin D.
You don’t have to be one of them.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and a prohormone manufactured by the body. As a vitamin we consume it through our diet, but it is also produced by your body after absorbing the sun’s rays. For those of us living in northern latitudes, and especially in winter, our Vitamin D can plummet. If your only source of vitamin D was from the sun’s rays, you would need direct sun exposure for 15 minutes, 3-5 times a week during the peak sun hours (without sunscreen on).
You can also get Vitamin D from food, although it is in much smaller doses. Vitamin D3 comes from red meat and fish and vitamin D2 comes from plants. In these forms, vitamin D must be metabolized in order to be used by the body.
Vitamin D plays a key role in various Functions:
Immune Function
Cancer prevention
Mental Health / Depression
Blood Pressure
Heart Rate
- Regulation of Insulin and Metabolism
Bone Strength
Lung function
Vitamin D receptors are located in your bones, pancreas, intestine, kidneys, brain, spinal cord, reproductive organs, thymus, adrenal glands, pituitary gland and thyroid gland.
Obtaining sufficient vitamin D from natural food sources alone is difficult. For many people, consuming vitamin D-fortified foods and, arguably, being exposed to some sunlight are essential for maintaining a healthy vitamin D status. In some groups, dietary supplements might be required to meet the daily need for vitamin D.
How Much Vitamin D Does One Need?
Current recommendations are 4,000 – 5,000 IU per day for an adult, though recent studies have called these recommendations into question. They assert that the recommended intakes should be higher for all age groups, closer to the current upper limits of 10,000 IU per day. Many have added vitamin K to help absorption and effectiveness of vitamin D.
Recommended Supplements
Peak Medical recommends supplements from Metagenics, a pharmaceutical grade manufacturer of high-quality products. For Vitamin D supplementation, we’ve listed two excellent choices to the right – D3 10,000 + K and D3 Liquid.
As an added bonus, you will automatically receive 10% off of your first supplement order from Metagenics. Just follow the product links to the right!
D3 10,000 + K
High Potency, Bioactive Vitamin D with Vitamin K
D3 Liquid
Have questions about how much Vitamin D you need? Contact us today and we will be happy to answer your question! info@peakmedicalpc.com or 435.602.1034.
| Food | IUs per serving* | Percent DV** |
|---|---|---|
| Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon | 1,360 | 340 |
| Swordfish, cooked, 3 ounces | 566 | 142 |
| Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces | 447 | 112 |
| Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces | 154 | 39 |
| Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup (check product labels, as amount of added vitamin D varies) | 137 | 34 |
| Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup | 115-124 | 29-31 |
| Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces (more heavily fortified yogurts provide more of the DV) | 80 | 20 |
| Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon | 60 | 15 |
| Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines | 46 | 12 |
| Liver, beef, cooked, 3 ounces | 42 | 11 |
| Egg, 1 large (vitamin D is found in yolk) | 41 | 10 |
| Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup (more heavily fortified cereals might provide more of the DV) | 40 | 10 |
| Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce | 6 | 2 |