{"id":224837,"date":"2025-10-25T14:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/224837\/"},"modified":"2025-10-25T14:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:36:09","slug":"why-we-need-vitamin-d-in-our-diet-and-how-to-keep-up-your-levels-this-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/224837\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we need vitamin D in our diet and how to keep up your levels this winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

The clocks are going back this Sunday and these short days and long nights mean that your body will not be getting enough vitamin D from sunlight. A nutritionist shares why and how to keep it upThis article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more<\/a>\"dogsThere is usually little sunlight in the winter months and so not enough vitamin D for our bodies(Image: Getty Images\/Image Source)<\/p>\n

The long nights are arriving soon, with the clocks going back <\/a>this Sunday, 26th October. The short days means that vitamin<\/a> D from sunlight alone is not sufficient enough for your body<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Between the months of April and September, sunlight usually provides enough vitamin D for most people. However, with daylight hours shortening, vitamin D levels become harder to maintain.<\/p>\n

Registered Nutritionist and Recipe Development Manager, Lily Keeling from recipe box delivery service Green Chef<\/a> shared advice on why it is so important to top up your vitamin D levels and how to do so. She added tips and hacks for which foods are best to have.<\/p>\n

\"Mushrooms\"Mushrooms are a great source of vitamin D if grown in sunlight(Image: Getty Images\/Cavan Images RF)Why do we need vitamin D in our diet?<\/p>\n

Lily explains that vitamin D is useful for our body in multiple ways: “Vitamin D is a key nutrient for maintaining healthy teeth, bones and muscles because it helps your body regulate and absorb calcium more effectively.”<\/p>\n

She adds: “Those with a vitamin D deficiency might experience negative side effects such as muscle and bone aches and fatigue.”<\/p>\n

In terms of how much vitamin D people need Lily says: “Most people need around 10 micrograms of vitamin D each day, but on average, we consume less than three micrograms. And during darker days, it\u2019s especially important to consider ways of maintaining vitamin D levels in your diet when we\u2019re exposed to less sunlight.”<\/p>\n

For more stories like this subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Weekly Gulp<\/a>, for a curated roundup of trending stories, poignant interviews, and viral lifestyle picks from The Mirror’s Audience U35 team delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n

Which foods are rich in vitamin D?<\/p>\n

Lily recommends to check the nutrient level of foods on their packaging and ingredients list, but she also highlights some of the highest vitamin D rich foods:<\/p>\n

Oily fish, like mackerel and salmonEgg yolksMushroomsMilk replacements, like soy and almondTop tips to keep vitamin D levels up<\/p>\n

Lily shares that the best ways to maintain vitamin D levels are through your diet and, “increasing your mushroom intake. Particularly paying close attention to Portobello, button and chestnut mushrooms that have been grown in the sunlight or under a UV lamp. You can usually find this information on the packaging.<\/p>\n

She continues: “A portion of mushrooms between 80-100g can provide you with all your daily vitamin D needs. This amounts to one large Portobello mushroom, 11-14 button mushrooms, or just 4-5 chestnut mushrooms.”<\/p>\n

Another way of increasing your vitamin D intake is, “by carefully choosing milk alternatives that have been fortified with vitamin D and calcium. Typically, in the UK cow’s milk is not fortified, so making this swap can help to increase your vitamin D levels with very little impact on your daily diet.”<\/p>\n

These tips and tricks to top up your vitamin D levels are necessary during the cold season.<\/p>\n

Help us improve our content by completing the survey below. We’d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The clocks are going back this Sunday and these short days and long nights mean that your body…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224838,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[616,102,6636,56,54,55,6959],"class_list":{"0":"post-224837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-diet","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom","14":"tag-vitamins"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}