Dietary sources of vitamin D include the following foods:[1]
- fatty fish (such as tuna or salmon)
- fish liver oil
- beef liver
- egg yolks
- mushrooms (vitamin D2), especially mushrooms that have been exposed to UV light[2]
Most foods are not natural sources of vitamin D, but many in the U.S. are fortified with vitamin D. Some common vitamin-D-fortified foods include the following:
- milk and other dairy products such as yogurt
- soy, almond, and oat milk
- orange juice
- breakfast cereals
Most animal-based foods have some vitamin D in the form of the vitamin D metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), along with small amounts of vitamin D3. The impact of dietary 25(OH)D on vitamin D status is an ongoing area of research, but it is worth noting that if the 25(OH)D content in foods such as beef, chicken, pork, turkey and eggs were taken into account, the amount of vitamin D present in these foods would be 2-18 times higher than the amount of the parent vitamin alone.[3]