Vitamin D is one of those nutrients that sounds simple until you try to get enough of it from food. Eggs help a little. Salmon helps a lot, if you actually eat salmon often. But for many Indians, especially vegetarians or people who do not regularly eat fish, the usual vitamin D options can feel both repetitive and impractical.
The first thing to know is that vitamin D is naturally present in very few foods. This is why experts are careful about overpromising what diet alone can do. “For most indoor urban Indians, diet alone is usually not a reliable way to maintain or correct vitamin-D status unless the diet deliberately includes fortified foods, UV-exposed mushrooms, fatty fish, cod liver oil or supplements,” says Asad Hussain, founder and CEO at Odds Longevity and an exercise and sports scientist. “Vitamin D is naturally present in only a few foods and the adult RDA (recommended dietary allowance) is generally 600–800 IU per day, depending on age.”
Aken Sanghavi, founder of CNTH by Apeiro Biosciences, agrees that sunlight still matters. “The best source of vitamin D will always be the midday sun, between 11am and 2pm, on exposed arms and legs,” he says. “Early morning walks or using sunscreen limits the body’s ability to produce vitamin D.”
Still, food can support the bigger picture if you choose the right ones. The key is knowing which foods actually contain vitamin D, which ones are only useful when fortified and which ones have been unfairly given a health halo. “Spinach, unfortified milk and ghee should not be treated as meaningful vitamin-D sources,” says Hussain. “Spinach has essentially zero vitamin D; unfortified milk contains only trace amounts and ghee is not a reliable vitamin-D strategy unless specifically fortified or verified.”
Below, five vitamin D foods worth knowing about beyond the usual suspects:
UV-exposed mushrooms
Mushrooms are the most interesting vegetarian option, but there is one important catch: regular mushrooms and UV-exposed mushrooms are not the same thing.
Ordinary mushrooms are usually grown indoors and contain very little vitamin D. But when mushrooms are exposed to sunlight or UV light, they can produce vitamin D2. “For vegetarians, the best food habit is to use UV-treated mushrooms or sun-exposed sliced mushrooms,” says Hussain. “Ordinary mushrooms contain very little vitamin D, but UV exposure can raise vitamin D2 substantially.”
Sanghavi adds that this is where many people get misled. “For vegetarians, UV-exposed mushrooms are a good source, but they are hard to find. Common mushrooms, often grown indoors, contribute very little.”
Look for mushrooms labelled “UV-exposed”, “sun-dried” or “high vitamin D”, if available. If you are trying this at home, sliced mushrooms exposed to direct sunlight before cooking may be more useful than whole mushrooms kept in the packet. Cook them in a little oil or ghee, add them to stir-fries, pulao, omelettes if you eat eggs or toss them into a warm salad.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: vogue.in
