What foods have a high amount of vitamin D in them?

Very few natural foods contain vitamin D. Most organisms photosynthesize their own vitamin D from the action of sunlight on their skin. Humans evolved near the equator with dark skins to allow the appropriate amount of vitamin D to be produced. As they migrated towards the poles, fairer skinned children had a survival advantage in being able to produce more vitamin D.

In the polar regions, there is insufficient sunlight for humans and other animals to produce vitamin D. Most of the animals in the polar regions get their vitamin D from eating fatty cold water fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel), which are one of the few good animal sources of vitamin D.

People who do not eat fatty cold water fish can get some vitamin D from mushrooms. Organically-grown shiitake mushrooms have 100 IU of vitamin D2 per 100 grams. When dried outdoors in the sunlight with their gills facing upward for full sun exposure for two days, six hours per day, the vitamin D levels in these mushrooms soars to nearly 46,000 IU per 100 grams. (Their stems produce relatively little vitamin D: about 900 IU.) Mushrooms dried this way preserve significant amounts of vitamin D2 for nearly a year after exposure. This means that you can capture vitamin D in mushrooms and have a ready source of this important vitamin - and delicious mushrooms - through the fall, winter, and spring.

There are small amounts of vitamin D in beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks, but these foods are also high in saturated fat and cholesterol.

While milk has a small amount of vitamin D, almost all of the U.S. milk supply is voluntarily fortified with 100 IU/cup. (In Canada, milk is fortified by law with 35-40 IU/100 mL, as is margarine at ≥530 IU/100 g.)

In the 1930s, a milk fortification program was implemented in the United States to combat rickets, then a major public health problem.

Other dairy products made from milk, such as cheese and ice cream, are generally not fortified. Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals often contain added vitamin D, as do some brands of Orange Juice, yogurt, margarine and other food products.

Both the United States and Canada mandate the fortification of infant formula with vitamin D: 40-100 IU/100 kcal in the United States and 40-80 IU/100 kcal in Canada.

The best, and least expensive source of vitamin D is to expose your skin to sunlight for 10-15 minutes each day.