How to Get Enough Vitamin D All Winter Long

Thank you to Adora Calcium Supplements for sponsoring this post.

Feeling a bit lethargic lately? It may be due to a lack of enough Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is essential to our health. We get it from certain foods we eat and also from the sun. Vitamin D is produced in our bodies when skin is exposed to sunlight – that’s why it’s known as the “sunshine vitamin”! Yet many of us are not getting enough Vitamin D, especially during the winter when we do not spend as much time outdoors.

A Vitamin D deficiency can not only affect your mood and energy, but it can also lead to weaker bones because Vitamin D is critical in helping our bodies absorb calcium. Low blood levels of Vitamin D have also been linked to chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer.

So let’s find out how to up our Vitamin D and avoid all that bad stuff!

Sunlight

Getting sun exposure in the winter can be tough, especially in northern climates (like Minnesota, where I live!). Add to that the fact that we’re all wearing sunscreen these days, and we’re severely limiting the amount of Vitamin D we absorb from the sun.

My best advice is to get outside on sunny days as much as you can. Even if it’s just for a short walk, or better yet an afternoon of ice skating or a day of skiing! Going without sunscreen for a short time (up to 15 minutes) is another way to increase Vitamin D exposure.

Oily Fish

Eating foods that contain Vitamin D is your best bet in the winter. Oily fish are an especially good source:

• Salmon (wild-caught is best)
• Mackerel
• Tuna
• Swordfish
• Trout
• Herring
• Sardines

Other foods

Surprisingly, not many foods contain Vitamin D, but if you know which ones do, you can make sure they are part of your diet – especially in the winter months. Fortified foods are another popular way to get Vitamin D.

• Egg yolks
• Mushrooms (who knew?) – shiitake are especially good but also chanterelle, morel and portobello
• Beef liver (uhhh, no thanks!)
• Fortified dairy products (especially milk)
• Fortified non-dairy milk and yogurt
• Fortified cereals and other packaged foods

Supplement with Adora

Most people do not get enough Vitamin D from food and sun alone, making it an important vitamin to take as a supplement. As you may know, I’ve been working with Adora this past year – and was a customer even before I started working with them. A yummy chocolate Adora supplement contains 500 IU of Vitamin D3 (plus 500 mg of calcium carbonate), so it’s a nice boost even if you think you’re getting a good amount from food. And if you take the recommended serving of 2 Adora disks per day, you’ll get 1000 IUs of Vitamin D, meeting the RDA for adults.

Here’s to staying healthy this winter!

(Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored partnership with Adora Calcium Supplements. All opinions are my own. Please consult your health practitioner for medical advice.)

(Top photo by Santa Felkare via flickr, creative commons license, salmon photo by Ewan Munro via flickr, creative commons)