Mushrooms as a Source of Vitamin D

Category: Diet and Nutrition

Vitamin D is necessary for absorption of calcium, which makes it essential for bone health. In childhood, vitamin D is necessary to prevent rickets. In adulthood, we still require vitamin D for bone health, but also for its protective effect against muscle weakness, internal cancers, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Vitamin D can be made in the skin from a precursor of vitamin D, when there is exposure to the sun. It can also be found in the diet in foods such as dairy products, which are fortified with this vitamin, and in fatty ocean fish. Now, we may soon add mushrooms that have been exposed to ultraviolet light to that list. The FDA proposed a study to examine the effect of UV light exposure on mushrooms, which usually grow in darkened conditions.

The preliminary data suggest that a single serving of white button mushrooms will contain 869% the daily value of vitamin D, after exposure to only five minutes of UV light after being harvested. The study is being funded by Monterrey Mushrooms, the nations largest mushroom grower.

The current US recommendation for intake to prevent deficiency related to bone density is 200 IU per day for children and younger adults, 400 IU/d for people aged 51-70 and 600 IU/d for those over 70. However, researchers now suggest that based on the amount required for health and the prevention of other diseases, the recommendation should be raised to 1000 IU for children and younger adults when sun exposure is limited.

Posted by Dr. Jennifer Stagg on December 12, 2013 10:00 AM