Vitamin D is a nutrient your body needs to keep your bones healthy and strong. It also has properties that support your immune system and neuromuscular health.
Dr. Jesse Bracamonte, a Mayo Clinic family medicine physician, says one of the main ways your body gets vitamin D is through direct sunlight on the skin. And during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, that can sometimes be a challenge.
Winter means the days are shorter and you spend more time indoors where it’s warm. But with a lack of sun exposure, are you getting enough vitamin D?
“It comes from the sun in the form of UV light in which your body uses that UV light to help to synthesize, or make, vitamin D,” says Dr. Bracamonte.
But, he says, the sun isn’t the only source of vitamin D.
“There are many foods that have vitamin D. Foods also are fortified with it, such as cereals, orange juices and milk have vitamin D. If you get enough from your sources, such as eating fish like tuna or salmon, that’s an adequate source,” says Dr. Bracamonte.
