The importance of ‘vitamin’ is well known, but there are many people who are indifferent to the efficacy of ‘vitamin D’. Vitamin D promotes liver regeneration, increases heart rate, prevents cardiovascular diseases, and helps prevent dry eye syndrome and macular degeneration. It is also excellent for preventing ‘osteoporosis’, which is common in Korean women after the age of 50. This is because it helps the absorption of calcium, which is essential for bones.
Vitamin D is synthesized in the body through sunlight. It is known that ‘vitamin D deficiency’ occurs in 8 to 9 out of 10 Koreans who do not do much outside activity due to their busy schedules. This is a very high number. Moreover, as the number of people complaining of ‘vitamin D deficiency’ has increased day by day as outdoor activities have been reduced due to the prolonged pandemic of the past few years, it is enough to awaken awareness.
To increase the synthesis of vitamin D in the body, regular outdoor activity and exposure to the sun is important. However, if school and work life are not enough, it is helpful to consume foods rich in vitamin D or supplements. So, which foods are rich in vitamin D?
◇ Foods rich in ‘salmon’ and ‘egg’, vitamin D
Representative foods rich in vitamin D include ▲’salmon’ and ▲’tuna’. In particular, it is known that wild salmon contains four times more vitamin D than farmed salmon. The daily intake of vitamin D recommended by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is 400 IU for adults and 200 IU for children under the age of 18. Wild salmon contains 600 to 1000 IU of vitamin D.
Mushrooms, which contain a large amount of ‘ergosterol’, a precursor of vitamin D, are also excellent foods for vitamin D supplementation. Especially, it is abundant in dried ▲ ‘shiitake’ and ▲ ‘wood ear mushroom’. When mushrooms are dried under a certain amount of sunlight, ‘ergosterol’ is converted to vitamin D. In fact, the vitamin D content of dried wood ear mushrooms is 30 times higher than that of raw wood ear mushrooms of the same weight.
▲ ‘Egg yolk’ is also a food that contains a lot of vitamin D. Vitamin D contained in egg yolk contains 20IU in 99g, which is less than the previous salmon or mushroom. However, egg yolk is more accessible than other foods, so it is recommended as a source of vitamin D. In particular, eggs contain △vitamins A, △E, △B12, △folic acid, and △omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential for modern people in addition to ‘vitamin D’.
