The Vitamin You Need to Watch This Winter

By: Melinda Hershey from Spark People : 1/12/2013

Winter is in full force, and you might be experiencing a lot of overcast days in your part of the world—which could be having an effect on your body's supply of vitamin D. Often called ''the sunshine vitamin,'' vitamin D can be synthesized by the body when we get enough exposure to sunlight. However, in the colder months when sun isn't as readily available, we sometimes have to rely a little more on nutrition to meet our daily vitamin D quotas.

Vitamin D is an important nutrient for bone health, as it promotes the absorption of calcium, and some studies even show that it could help prevent cancer. Obviously, vitamin-D milk is a good source of vitamin D, but salmon has also been said to have a hefty amount of the important nutrient. Which do you think contains more of the ''sunshine vitamin'': A 3-ounce portion of cooked sockeye salmon, or 1 cup of nonfat, vitamin-D fortified milk?

The Winner: Salmon!

Just 3 ounces of cooked salmon contains 112% of your daily quota for vitamin D! One cup of milk only has 29-31% of your daily value. For more great sources of vitamin D, check out the information below from the National Institutes of Health.

Food	Percent Daily Value of Vitamin D
Cod liver oil, 1 tablespoon	340
Swordfish, cooked, 3 ounces	142
Salmon (sockeye), cooked, 3 ounces	112
Tuna fish, canned in water, drained, 3 ounces	39
Orange juice fortified with vitamin D, 1 cup	34
Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D-fortified, 1 cup	29-31
Soy milk, enriched, 1 cup	25
Rice milk, enriched, 1 cup	25
Almond milk, 1 cup	25
Yogurt, fortified with 20% of the DV for vitamin D, 6 ounces	20
Margarine, fortified, 1 tablespoon	15
Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 2 sardines	12
Liver, beef, cooked, 3 ounces	11
Egg, 1 large (vitamin D is found in yolk)	10
Ready-to-eat cereal, fortified with 10% of the DV for vitamin D, 0.75-1 cup	10