All About Vitamin D

The Importance of Vitamin D

Vitamin D plays an essential role in the health of your bones and teeth. It's called the "sunshine vitamin" as the body needs sun to produce it.

Vitamin D helps the body absorb and use calcium and plays an important role in cell growth and muscle function. It also helps protect against infections by keeping your immune system healthy.

Common Food Sources of Vitamin D

Mostly produced by our skin from exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays, vitamin D can also be found in food. Some foods (such as certain fish) contain it naturally, while it is added to other foods (such as milk).

See the table below for the vitamin D content of some common foods:

Food Group	Food	Serving size	Vitamin D (IU)

Vegetables and Fruit
Vegetables and Fruit	Orange juice, fortified with vitamin D	125 mL (½ cup)	50

Grain Products	This food group contains very little of this nutrient

Milk and Alternatives
	Milk (homogenized 3.3%, 2%, 1%, skim, chocolate)	250 mL (1 cup)	104
	Milk, skim, powdered	24 g (to make 250 mL of milk)	103
	Goat’s milk, fortified with vitamin D	250 mL (1 cup)	100
	Soy beverage, fortified with vitamin D	250 mL (1 cup)	87
	Yogurt (plan, fruit bottom), all types	175 g (¾ cup)	67

Meat and Alternatives
	Eel, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	699
	Salmon, sockeye/red, canned	75 g (2.5 oz)	557
	Salmon, humpback/pink, canned	75 g (2.5 oz)	435
	Snapper, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	392
	Mackerel, Pacific, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	343
	Herring, Atlantic, pickled	75 g (2.5 oz)	201
	Trout, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	200
	Halibut, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	144
	Whitefish, lake, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	135
	Tuna, yellowfin, cooked	75 g (2.5 oz)	106
	Sardines, canned, with bones	75 g (2.5 oz)	70
	Egg yolk	2 large	64
	Tuna, white, canned with water	75 g (2.5 oz)	60

Other
Other	Margarine	5 mL (1 tsp)	66

Vitamin D Requirements

People of all ages need a sufficient intake of calcium and vitamin D to maintain healthy bones. Until our late twenties, calcium and vitamin D help build bone mass and, later on in life, serve to preserve bone mass or prevent it from deteriorating.

The amount of vitamin D needed in our diet varies with age:

Men and women 19-70 years old: 600 IU per day
Men and women 71 years and older: 800 IU per day

Vitamin D and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease that is characterized by the progressive weakening of bones, leading to increased risk of fractures. The best way to prevent osteoporosis is to make sure you get enough calcium and vitamin D throughout your life.

According to current recommendations, men and women over age 50 should take a vitamin D supplement of 400 IU daily.

Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency is very common, especially in nordic countries such as Canada. That being said, most people don't know that they are deficient as the symptoms are subtle.

Symptoms may be:

Fatigue and tiredness
Bone and back pain
Depression
Impaired wound healing
Softening or weakening of the bones
Hair loss
Muscle pain

Vitamin D Supplements

During the fall and winter months, the sun's rays are weaker and Canadians spend more time indoors. Some people may therefore benefit from a vitamin D supplement of 1000 IU per day during this time. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor to determine if you would benefit from taking a daily supplement.

The information in this resource is for general information purposes only and is not intended to replace informed medical advice. Consume foods according to any dietary guidelines you have been provided from a health care professional. Metro Ontario Pharmacies Limited assumes no legal liability for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of the information.