Nutrient Spotlight: Vitamin D

As much as I love talking about wellness, lifestyle, and nutrition trends, I figured it was time to get down to some science on this blog. After all, nutrition is all about science. I wanted to start a series here on the blog spotlighting specific nutrients that you might be wondering about. I feel like different vitamins and minerals are all over food packaging and media (Great Source of ____!), but no one every really talks about what those nutrients actually do for you and why they’re so great!

I figured we’d start with the ever popular Vitamin D.

What it does: Vitamin D is a nutrient essential to our health for many reasons. Vitamin D plays a huge role in our bone health. Firstly, it helps our bodies absorb Calcium, which helps both build healthy bones and keep them healthy. Vitamin D also blocks the release of parathyroid hormone, which reabsorbs bone tissue and can make bones weak. In addition to these essential functions, there’s tons of research happening around Vitamin D and its other many benefits. It is thought to play a role in both muscle function and the immune system. Many studies have shown that patients in the hospital who have a Vitamin D deficiency show worse outcomes than those with adequate Vitamin D levels. It could also help prevent diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Like I said, these are all areas of ongoing research, so we don’t know this for sure, but it’s clear that Vitamin D plays a huge role in our bodies.

How its absorbed: Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, meaning there needs to be some sort of fat in the diet to really absorb it. It can also be synthesized when sunlight strikes the skin.

What foods are rich in Vitamin D: Fatty fish is one of the best sources of Vitamin D in food. Things like Salmon, Tuna, Swordfish, and Cod Liver Oil all contain high amounts. Dairy, such as cheese, yogurt, and milk, as well as egg yolks also contain some Vitamin D. Some foods are also fortified with Vitamin D, such as breakfast cereals and some dairy. Like I said above, you can also get Vitamin D from sunlight. The UV in sunlight causes the skin to produce Vitamin D. The amount depends on several factors such as time of day, cloud cover, season, and location.

Recommended Intake: 600 IU/day (Upper Limit: 4000 IU/day)

Supplementation: If you eat an overall healthy diet with a variety of different foods and get outside, you should be ok on Vitamin D levels. However, make sure to get blood work done during your yearly physicals to make sure your levels are ok, and of course speak to your doctor to see if they recommend supplementation.

Alrighty, well I think that’s about all you need to know about Vitamin D. Hopefully this gave you a some insight about this nutrient, so that you are a little more aware of what it does for your body and why you should be consuming it. If you have any questions feel free to comment below, and of course let me know what other vitamins you’d like me to talk about next 🙂

Aaaannnddd We’re Back!

Incase this new blog post doesn’t make it obvious; I’m back to blogging! I took quite a long break from blogging, since I started my Youtube channel and have been really enjoying that. Through doing Youtube for about a year and a half now, I’ve realized that some things are just better in written form, so I wanted to bring back a space for me to do that.

If you don’t know me, my name is Melissa and I’m a Registered Dietitian who is all about balance. Here on my blog, as well as my Youtube channel, we talk about all things food and nutrition. You can find recipes, product reviews, nutrition tips and tricks, and the science behind many different fad diets. In addition, I love talking about travelling, beauty, exercise, sustainability, and tons of other things!

Originally, I was going to change the name of my blog to encompass all of those things. Afterall, I started Made to Order as a place to recreate restaurant meals. However, after giving it a lot of thought, I think Made to Order still encompasses what I want to do on this blog. When I think “Made to Order” I think personalized, easily changed, something you can create yourself. And to me, that is what I am all about. Your nutrition and lifestyle is totally personal to you, I want to give you the tools to make small changes, and the information to decide for yourself how you want to live your life!

So here we are, welcome back to Made to Order! Expect a new blog post every week, as well as a new Youtube video. I can’t wait to continue sharing news, information, and tips with you.