Milk and sunshine are not the only resources for Vitamin D. Deficiency of Vitamin D is the most common finding these days. “It’s not that earlier it wasn’t prevalent, but these days people are more aware about it and doctors too ask patients to include that in their routine checkups,” says dietician Sai Gaokar. In school we learnt that deficiency of this vitamin could cause rickets and the best way to get this was sunshine and milk. But what if you get sun burnt or are lactose intolerant? Does that mean that the only option is to take vitamin supplements? Fortunately, the answer is ‘no’. We do have some other foods that can prove to be decent resources for vitamin D.
Fish
Fresh and canned fish have considerable amounts of Vitamin D. Especially fatty fish like Salmon, Sardines, Mackerel, Tuna. You can have more than 50 percent of the daily recommended dose of the vitamin in one helping…eg. A tuna sandwich or a grilled salmon weighing about three ounces.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms absorb vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. Portobello mushrooms, which are grown in the sun, are rich in vitamin D.
Fortified orange juice
Some brands of tetra-packed orange juice of vitamin D added to it. Though other juices too have the same, orange juice helps retain the ingredient and fortifies it supplying you one-sixth of your daily dose.
Egg
Eggs have a decent amount of vitamin D. However, one has to be careful in eating egg yolk if you have a blood pressure issue or high cholesterol.
Organ meat
Organ meats, for example, beef liver, have a substantial amount of vitamin D. Though most don’t prefer to eat organ meat, people who love it can substitute it easily for milk for vitamin D and proteins.