rickets, also known as osteomalacia<\/a>. Typically, the disease affects children\u2014making it hard for their bodies to absorb calcium, thus rendering their bones weak.<\/p>\nLuckily, it\u2019s relatively simple to prevent a vitamin D deficiency in children and adults.<\/p>\n
How can I prevent a vitamin D deficiency?<\/p>\n
1. Spend time in the sun<\/p>\n
According to the experts, this is one of the best ways to ensure that your body is getting enough vitamin D. However, it\u2019s still important to wear your sunscreen when you\u2019re out in the sun. Contrary to sunscreen conspiracy theories, there is no empirical evidence that applying sunscreen inhibits your skin from absorbing the UV rays that are necessary to produce vitamin D.<\/p>\n
2. Eat foods with a high amount of vitamin D<\/p>\n
As you may remember from those \u201cGot milk?\u201d ads, milk has tons of vitamin D. That said, you can\u2019t go for a milk alternative like soy, almond, or oat. In order to get the full serving of vitamin D, Dr. Paulvin says you need to reach for the dairy.<\/p>\n
Other foods that are great for combating vitamin D deficiency? Bananas, beans, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and all types of nuts. Fatty fish that live in shallow water\u2014like herring, sardines, and salmon\u2014are also a great source of vitamin D.<\/p>\n
A note here: It\u2019s unlikely that you\u2019ll reach the necessary levels of vitamin D just from eating foods that contain it. The experts we consulted also advocate taking a vitamin D supplement.<\/p>\n
3. Take a supplement<\/p>\n
One thing that Dr. Paulvin notes about vitamin D intake, however, is that you want to be sure you\u2019re getting vitamin D3\u2014as opposed to the other two types of vitamin D.<\/p>\n
\u201cD3 is more used by the body, which is why that\u2019s what you want to opt for,\u201d Dr. Paulvin adds. If you\u2019re taking a supplement, the type of vitamin D3 that it contains will be written directly on the label. Additionally, Dr. Sangwan says that you\u2019d be wise to take a supplement that combines D3 with vitamin K2\u2014a vitamin that helps to metabolize calcium.<\/p>\n
\u201cVitamin K2 helps your body transport the vitamin D into your bones and teeth, rather than letting it sit in your arteries and other soft tissues,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s almost like vitamin K2 is the transport that gets the D3 to where it’s needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Greene suggests supplements from Lifeforce or Thorne<\/a> ($28) because they\u2019re high-quality sources that are approved by the National Sanitation Foundation, a public health and safety organization that tests, inspects, and certifies products. Moreover, they both offer vitamin D3 coupled with vitamin K2.<\/p>\nRegardless of how you choose to take your vitamin D, Dr. Sangwan suggests getting the 25-hydroxy vitamin D test to ensure that your body is getting as much as it needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr. Greene adds that vitamin D is a co-factor in producing dopamine, meaning that in order for your…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":68690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[12344,210,1182,5096,67,132,68,1940,3149],"class_list":{"0":"post-68689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-_seo","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-textbelowcenterfullbleed","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-web","16":"tag-wellness"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114866104835000538","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}