Diet Tip of the Week

An interesting fact in sports nutrition is that people know vitamin D as a sunshine vitamin because your body produces it when your skin is exposed to the sun. But depending on the sun for vitamin D could be a bad decision. People in Hawaii are notorious for sunbathing, in fact they spend 20 hours in the sun on average per week and they still do not get enough vitamin D. So the sun is not the greatest source of vitamin D even if you get cooked by the sun your still low on Vitamin D. Many people have severe deficiencies and these lead to severe ailments such as having a very sensitive immune system, developing specific type of cancers, such as skin cancer. There is also the connection of increased muscle fat with people who have lower vitamin D levels. So one should not depend on the sun for vitamin D as much as they think they should. 

Vitamin D is very important for protection against cancer, diabetes, depression, and heart disease. The recommended daily dose of vitamin D is 400 IU(international units), the latest research has suggested that one should take up to 700 IU per day of vitamin D to obtain its health benefits. Here is how you can add more vitamin D to your diet;

Vitamin D can be obtained through these rich foods:

• 3.5 ounce wild salmon contains 360 IU, the majority of the daily vitamin D requirements.
• Milk contain 1/5 of of vitamin D required daily (whole milk better than skim)
• Mushrooms vary from white mushrooms having 5 IU to shitake mushrooms having 45 IU
• Cod Liver Oil 1tablespoon is 1360 IU of vitamin D
• Orange Juice fortified with vitamin D 1 cup is 137 IU
• 1 large egg has 42 IU, vitamin D is found in the yolk