The Fish That Can Add A Boost Of Vitamin D To Your Diet

Need to boost your vitamin D levels but don't want to reach for the supplements? Honing in on your diet and selecting specific foods can help. One of the best vitamin D-rich foods to cook with is rainbow trout.

This freshwater fish belongs to the salmon family and has a distinctive reddish-pink strip running along its length, which is the reason behind its interesting name. As it has a mild, sweet, and almost nutty flavor, rainbow trout is a versatile fish that can be subbed into many seafood recipes. It has pretty pinky-orange flesh, just like salmon, but perhaps the best thing about the fish is its abundant vitamin D content. A 3-ounce serving of it when cooked contains 645 IU of vitamin D, which is more than the recommended daily allowance for people over 70.

Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium, which means it's a key requirement for keeping our bones, nails, and teeth healthy and strong. While the human body can make the nutrient via sun exposure, we get most of it through food, such as egg yolks, beef, and fish, as well as fortified processed products like breakfast cereals. You can, of course, raise your vitamin D levels with supplements too, but if you'd prefer to get it from a natural source, rainbow trout is an incredible option, as it has more per ounce than salmon, sardines, and tuna.

The skin of a rainbow trout is able to make some vitamin D, which is stored in its fatty tissues, when exposed to light. However, as these fish naturally swim deep underwater and away from natural sunlight, they get more of their vitamin D via food sources, such as zooplankton. These organisms live close to the surface of the water, making them better placed to absorb UV light. When we eat trout, we continue on with this food chain and consume those concentrations of the nutrient stored inside the fish. In turn, this allows our bodies to better absorb calcium and prevent diseases like rickets. Eating a diet rich in vitamin D also reduces the risk of muscle weakness, fractures, and bone density loss.

In the same way as salmon, rainbow trout can be baked, grilled, or fried with ease due to its meaty and firm texture. It's also more sustainable to produce and cheaper to buy. However, if you can't get hold of rainbow trout, consider grilling up some steelhead trout instead. While steelhead has a lower vitamin D content, it has a similar mild taste and flavor. Some of the other best foods for vitamin D include cod liver oil and beef liver. Liver also happens to be one of the foods that will give you more than enough vitamin A too.