Why winter sucks and how you can increase vitamin D during these shorter daylight hours

Why Winter Can Take a Hike plus Ways to Increase Vitamin D

Why winter sucks and how you can increase vitamin D during these shorter daylight hours.

Winter is a cold, nasty season in New England. I don’t like it, but this is where I’ve lived my entire life. There was a time in my life where every winter I grew more seasonally depressed. I would be consumed with sadness and it just wouldn’t shake except for those brief moments of sunshine that snuck in past the dark winter days. Sunshine is my happy juice, it warms my soul and makes me feel so complete.

Why winter sucks and how you can increase vitamin D during these shorter daylight hours

Why Winter Sucks

  • **Shorter days, meaning less sunshine.
  • **Freezing cold temperatures.
  • **Heating costs get out of hand.
  • **Electricity costs get out of hand.
  • **No one wants to get outside.
  • **Have to bundle up to go anywhere.

 

Winter is hard on so many people. In New England, we tend to have lower Vitamin D levels due to the shorter days and lack of sunshine during winter. It’s no wonder why winter gets me feeling so hopeless, I don’t really eat any products that have Vitamin D in them. I’ve been told to drink milk, but milk makes me sick to my stomach and I usually end up in the bathroom all day after having some. I do love cheese, but I don’t eat it very often and I’m not even sure if it has enough Vitamin D to make up for the loss during winter.


Ways to Increase Vitamin D

The obvious way for me is to spend 15 minutes at least in the sunshine every day, but winter season makes that impossible to do on a regular basis. So if you’re stuck in the winter season and feeling blue, then here are some ways you can increase Vitamin D with food and drink:

  • **Eat more salmon
  • **Eat real tuna
  • **Raw fish has more vitamin D than cooked, so take sushi into consideration too.
  • **Fortified orange juice
  • **Eat more mushrooms
  • **Enjoy those eggs for breakfast.
  • **Take a Vitamin D supplement.

 

Out of this little list of ways to increase Vitamin D, fortified orange juice was the only option that actually shocked me. I didn’t even think about having more fortified orange juice every day during these crappy winter days in New England. I’ve debated taking a Vitamin D supplement before, but just look at how many are out there on the market:

All products below are from Amazon and use my affiliate link. 

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What do you use to increase Vitamin D?

7 thoughts on “Why Winter Can Take a Hike plus Ways to Increase Vitamin D

  1. I know people who have seasonal effective disorder. And it certainly does make it truly difficult for them during that time. These are great ways to increase Vitamin D. I didn’t know about the mushrooms. I love those. I will have to eat more.

  2. I am one of those people that struggles with vitamin d levels, so these suggestions are definitely somehting I am going to try. I already takea supplement. Winter doens’t Both me too much, as I don’t mind the cold as long as its dry. I hate the rain and snow is ok for a while but then I just want it to go away again. Thanks for sharing ther advice.

  3. I live in the cold Minnesota state, USA… Of course the cold can get old quickly, but I do love ice-skating and sledding with my kiddos (we just wear the right gear). Every winter I make sure the family takes vitamins daily, because I agree when you say vit D is important for the body

  4. Even though I live in sunny Greece, during the winter time (which I love btw) it’s hard to make vitamin D. We go out every chance we get to catch some rays but we resolve to supplements when the levels are low.

  5. These are great tips. I live in Old England so we have a similar problem with getting our Vit D naturally. I tend to take a multivitamin so this gives me a bit of a boost but I’m always happy to eat more fish 🙂

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