Why Diet Fails Us With Vitamin D Intake + How A Supplement Can Help
At mindbodygreen, we believe we can get most everything we need from nature—including our daily nutrients. And while we can get many of the essential vitamins and minerals we need on a daily basis from our diet (but we're actually not, hence the widespread nutrient gaps in our nation), the "food-first" mentality isn't the best approach when it comes to vitamin D.
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The problem with getting vitamin D from diet alone.
"Diet fails us for this nutrient," Ashley Jordan Ferira, Ph.D., RDN, mbg's vice president of scientific affairs says in a TikTok video. "It would take 50 glasses of milk a day to get 5,000 IU of vitamin D3. Or, how about nine servings of salmon? That's silly, right?"
And if you're wondering if you can simply get enough of the "sunshine vitamin" by spending time outside on a sunny summer day, think again: "Sunshine, unfortunately, is equally variable," Ferira says. "And also risky."
The thing is, a lot of U.S. adults are vitamin D deficient or insufficient (29% and 41%1, to be exact). And if they think food and sunshine alone are enough to move the needle on their vitamin D status, they may be in for a rude awakening when they get their test results back.
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Taking a vitamin D3 supplement to achieve sufficiency.
The most effective way to ensure you're getting the vitamin D your body needs on a daily basis is by taking a high-quality, effective vitamin D3 supplement.
Here's what you should look for when choosing a vitamin D supplement:
- D3 (instead of D2, which has inferior bioavailability)
- Built-in fat for optimal absorption (or, you can take your vitamin D with a meal to ensure the fat-soluble vitamin can be properly absorbed)
- 5,000 IU per daily serving (and possibly more, if you're insufficient or deficient in vitamin D or have specific body composition considerations)
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"Pharmacokinetic research demonstrates that 5,000 IU of D3 daily will help you get to 50 ng/ml (i.e., the truly optimal vitamin D status)," Ferira shares. "Is your supplement 1,000 IU or 2,000 IU of vitamin D? Unfortunately, that's not going to cut it.""
Luckily, mbg's vitamin D3 potency+ includes all of these stellar features to ensure you reach (and maintain) healthy vitamin D levels to benefit your whole-body health and well-being.*
The takeaway.
To reap all the incredible health benefits that come with vitamin D sufficiency, a high-quality vitamin D supplement is just what you need.
mbg's vitamin D3 potency+ delivers 5,000 IU of algae-sourced organic vitamin D3, plus an organic trio of avocado, flax, and olive oils to enhance absorption and bioavailability (not to mention the added benefits of the healthy omega-3 and omega-9 fats). With science-backed dosage, enhanced bioavailability, and sustainable sourcing, our premium D3 formula is highly unique and your daily tool for lifelong vitamin D sufficiency.*
So, what's it gonna be—a quality daily supplement or 50 glasses of milk? The choice is yours!
Morgan Chamberlain is a supplement editor at mindbodygreen. She graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science degree in magazine journalism and a minor in nutrition. Chamberlain believes in taking small steps to improve your well-being—whether that means eating more plant-based foods, checking in with a therapist weekly, or spending quality time with your closest friends. When she isn’t typing away furiously at her keyboard, you can find her cooking in the kitchen, hanging outside, or doing a vinyasa flow.