Vitamin D: You can find it in these vegan and vegetarian foods

Vitamin D is only found in small amounts in food. In this article we will show you how you can still meet your needs for the sun vitamin.

A good supply of vitamin D is important for your health. According to the German Nutrition Society (DGE), it is essentially responsible for your bone and dental health, your muscle strength and other metabolic processes. It is also being discussed whether vitamin D reduces the risk of cancer, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. However, this theory has not yet been confirmed from a scientific point of view.

Another special feature of vitamin D is that your body can produce it by itself by exposing your skin to sunlight. Strictly speaking, it is therefore not a vitamin, but a hormone.

In this way you can support your vitamin D supply, especially in winter

Your vitamin D supply should mainly come from exposure to the sun, because it can cover your necessary needs much better than diet. However, from October to March your body has a hard time synthesizing vitamin D. This is due to our geographical location, because in winter the days get shorter, we cover our skin more and we spend less time outdoors.

Not so wild, because your body can store vitamin D. The DGE recommends exposing your body parts to the sun for an average of 15 minutes per day during the warm months and at lunchtime. In the mornings and afternoons you need more of 30 minutes. When your storage runs out and spring begins again, you can recharge yourself sufficiently.

According to the DGE, only 10 to 20 percent of your daily requirement can be met with vitamin D in food. Nevertheless, especially in winter and despite the low vitamin D in foods, you should exploit the potential through diet. Significant amounts are mainly contained in fatty fish and thus in animal products.

In the next section, we’ll show you which vegan and vegetarian foods contain at least some vitamin D.

Vitamin D in foods – vegan and vegetarian

Vitamin D is considered to be a potentially critical nutrient. This means that the intake of vitamin D in the population is often insufficient. Your diet does not play an important role in the risk of being undersupplied. So it doesn’t matter whether you eat a vegan, vegetarian or omnivorous diet, because the sun’s rays through the skin are the main source of vitamin D.

If your body does not naturally synthesize vitamin D from the sun, it needs an intake of around 20 micrograms per day. On average, however, only two to four micrograms are absorbed through the diet.

You can support your vitamin D requirement through your diet with these vegan and vegetarian foods:

• Chicken egg yolk with 5.6 micrograms per 100 grams, with an egg yolk weighing an average of 20 grams
• whole chicken egg with 2.9 micrograms per 100 grams, an egg weighs an average of 50 to 60 grams
• Chanterelles at 2.1 micrograms per 100 grams
• Champingons at 1.9 micrograms per 100 grams
• Gouda cheese at 1.3 micrograms per 100 grams
• butter at 1.2 micrograms per 100 grams
• Whole milk at 0.09 micrograms per 100 grams

Should you take vitamin D supplements?

The DGE generally only recommends taking vitamin D via dietary supplements if a vitamin D deficiency can be proven and cannot be compensated for through exposure to the sun and diet. You should therefore always have a doctor clarify any supplementation.

Overall, it is better if your focus for your vitamin D supply is on the route through the sun, which you can supplement with vitamin D in foods if necessary.

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