<p>Does anyone have any suggestions of how to increase their intake of Vitamin D without having to take just vitamin pills? I have to increase my intake and am exploring all my options. I have Vitamin D vitamins, and will take those (when I remember), but am also looking for foods that are good sources of Vitamin D. I’ve read the web, and so far found the things I like and am willing to eat more of (salmon, tuna fish, etc) and I am sitting here eating a nonfat chocolate pudding (yay-- great excuse for eating more chocolate pudding!). I eat cottage cheese, some yogurt and low fat cheese. Won’t touch sardines, mackerel, liver or cod liver oil (no way!) Any other thoughts??
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>By the way, I know milk products, unless they are fortified with extra vitamin D, dont have a lot, but I am rationalizing my chocolate pudding intake anyway!</p>
<p>^^^AH yes, twinmom, I’d forgotten to mention that. Thanks! DH is using that as a reason for us to take more walks. I read, though, that once we are over 50 our skin’s ability to absorb it decreases. So how long will I need to be outside? DH might expect me to do the yardwork!</p>
<p>jym: From what I have read recently, 15 minutes of exposed sun (w/o sunscreen) per day should really help…Given that you live in the south, I wouldn’t think that would present much of a problem…also, some of the more common calcium supplements have D in them (but if you forget to take vitamins, that won’t help…)</p>
<p>Anyone know if here is much Vit D in the Omaga 3 Fish Oil pills? they hare made from the fishies I cant stand (mackerel, anchovy, herring, sardine, etc) but I can swallow another pill if I have to, thought the Vit D pills are much smaller.</p>
<p>Just returned form my walk with DH, so got some needed rays today.
I’ve tried the Vivactin in the past, ursaminor. I wasnt too keen on it, but maybe I should try it again.</p>
<p>I had a friend who was a big fan of all sorts of vitamins and supplements-- but when would sweat, he’d smell like fish!</p>
<p>I walk outside for an hour every day at a minimum and am usually outside much more than that, so get lots of natural sun but was extremely deficient in Vitamin D when I had my blood levels tested recently. As a result, I am taking 1,000 mg a day supplement and will get retested in October. From what I have read, your body’s ability to absorb the Vitamin D through the skin is not always ideal regardless of how much sun you get. I think the only way to be sure is to have a blood test and take a supplement if nothing else is working.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst, that is interesting. Are you dark skinned? Do you live in the upper latitudes where the sun is not strong? Do you wear sunscreen? I wonder what could be impeding your skin from allowing sun absorption, or your body from processing it into Vitamin D? Did your doctor have any theories? And what caused you to get tested in the first place?</p>
<p>Sorry for the questions, but I’m just curious about this deficiency with an hour-plus a day in the sun.</p>
<p>I live in Virginia, which has plenty of sun, and do not wear sunscreen (which I know I should but I don’t burn or tan so I usually don’t bother). I used to life guard as a teen and was as dark at the end of summer as at the beginning, meaning still really white. I tan a little tiny bit, but almost never burn even after a full day at the beach.</p>
<p>Anyway, I was tested because my doctor said she had read a study that 80% of women are low in Vitamin D so she was testing everybody in her practice now as a matter of standard protocol–and was finding this to be true in her practice as well. I assured her that I wouldn’t have a problem because I love milk–drinking 2-3 glasses of Vitamin D fortified milk every day–and am outside a ton now that I am retired. Anyway, I tested off the charts low and she put me on a supplement. I don’t have any answers other than that. We will see what the retest shows in October to see if the supplement is working.</p>
<p>I am about 20 pounds overweight and did read one study that said Vitamin D can get caught up in fat cells and therefore not get absorbed by women who are overweight. I am losing weight so hopefully if that is the problem it will be resolved soon.</p>
<p>Hmm… I wonder if this is a reason. Your skin perhaps doesn’t absorb the sunlight the way most people’s do. I’m pretty fair and will burn to a crisp after one hour of direct sun. I always build up my tan gradually in the summer (helps that I swim in an outdoor pool, though 5:30-7 a.m. we don’t get a lot of direct sun!) and will wear sunscreen if I’m going to be out longer than an hour or two. I assume I absorb the sunlight but I will ask to be tested at some point to make sure. The research on vitamin D is very compelling, re. preventing cancers.</p>
<p>I am a believer in getting the test. I must say that after starting the supplement, I immediately felt more energy and started losing weight faster with no change in diet. Since so many women test low, I have to believe that absorption may be a somewhat common problem and may be a factor that leads to obesity and other problems as well. </p>
<p>I hate taking medicine and won’t even take a multivitamin, but my reading on Vitamin D and the test results staring me in the face made me a believer in this one supplement plus I agreed to a calcium supplement. That’s all I have to take at the moment and I hope to get my system in balance by losing this last 20 pounds to not need these two pills.</p>
<p>As I mentioned above, I’d read that as we ladies head north of the 50 age mark, our skin’s ability to absorb vitamin D declines, for some reason (I guess everything starts to go south on us!). So I too am supposed to take an extra 1000 mg of vitamin D. Thank heavens the capsules are not huge and hard to swallow.</p>
<p>I was also just tested for Vitamin D levels and the results were incredibly low (Pacific Northwest living does NOT help). My doctor has put me on a prescription strength Vitamin D supplement for 3 months (that I only take once a week) with retesting after that. I was half convinced I had thyroid issues due to a general “malaise” but those levels were within norms, so hopefully increasing Vitamin D will help.</p>
<p>So far, 50 hasn’t been all that much fun. But it beats the alternative, so I’m not going to complain - at least not too much.</p>