Foods rich in Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a unique vitamin. It is the only vitamin that the human body can produce naturally. Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” due to the fact that the body can synthesize vitamin D as a result of direct exposure to sunlight on the skin. Recently, this vitamin has been getting a lot of attention for its ability to poten- tially fight diseases including cancer. It has also been tied to preventing a long list of ailments including asthma, ovarian cancer, depression, fibromyalgia, liver disease and dementia. Vitamin D is important for increasing bone density and may boost the immune system.

In addition to getting sunlight, another way to naturally get Vitamin D is by selecting the proper whole foods. Some of the best items to select include salmon, sardines, shiitake mushrooms, caviar/fish roe and poultry eggs.

It is of the utmost importance that people avoid Vitamin D2. This is the synthetic version of Vitamin D. The natural form of Vitamin D is Vitamin D3, or Cholecalciferol. Vitamin D2 has been shown to have a number of negative health effects. Unfortunately, this synthetic form of the vitamin is often found as an additive to fortified or enriched foods, like soy and nut milks and cereals. When possible, consider making seed and nutmilks at home instead of buying them in a store to avoid Vitamin D2.

If you want to have your Vitamin D levels checked, you should ask your doctor for the 25,hydroxy-Vitamin D test. This will give you the best picture of your body’s level of active Vitamin D.

Follow this link to the signup form for Foods rich in Vitamin D. To get the booklet, you have to sign-up for my quarterly e-newsletter about healthy living and eating according to Chinese Medicine philosophy. In your subscription confirmation email, you will get a link to download the PDF of the booklet on Foods rich in Vitamin D.

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