Vitamin D — one of the most talked about nutrients of the past few years — is back in the spotlight.
The first formal recommendations for daily intakes of calcium and vitamin D for bone health were released this week in a report from the Institute of Medicine.
Many Americans are getting enough of these nutrients, except for adolescent girls who may not consume enough calcium and some elderly folks who don't get enough of either, says the report by a panel of experts. Fortified foods and supplement use help, and sunlight triggers the production of vitamin D and contributes to people's levels.
But several top national nutritionists say many people will need to fine-tune their diets to reach the vitamin D recommendation of 600 International Units (IUs) a day with food alone, especially if they don't drink much milk or eat a lot of fish.
"There's no way that people will satisfy those recommendations for vitamin D without supplements," says Elizabeth Ward, a registered dietitian in Boston. There are very few dietary sources of vitamin D, she says, but some of the more accessible ones include fortified milk and soy beverages, fortified orange juice, eggs, salmon and tuna.
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