Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for staying healthy, and there are several ways for you to get more of it.

The good news is that your body makes its own vitamin D. The bad news is that it needs the sun to do so. This means that you might not be getting enough of the nutrient if you spend much of your day inside, if you have to use sunscreen when you’re outside, or if your body doesn’t absorb the nutrient well. But we found a few ways you can get more.

Sunlight

The best, and easiest, way to get vitamin D is exposure to sunlight. Of course, exposure to sunlight can also mean increased risk of skin cancer, so you have to be careful. But, experts say, even 20 minutes of unprotected sun exposure could help boost your levels of Vitamin D.

Foods

The second-best way to get more vitamin D in your system is through your diet. The best food sources of the nutrient are fatty fish like salmon, tuna and eel, which can contain upwards of 75 percent of the recommended daily amount. Other foods that can boost your levels of D are mushrooms grown in UV light, fortified milk, yogurt, juices, cereals, egg yolks and beef liver.

Supplements

You can also add more vitamin D to your blood stream with dietary supplements. Read labels to make sure you’re not getting too much vitamin D (4,000 IUs is probably the limit), and the supplement doesn’t add gluten or sugar to your diet. You only have to take a vitamin D supplement once a day for it to be effective. You can also add cod liver oil capsules to your supplement list. These supplements are usually flavored (so they don’t leave a fish taste) and can supply double your recommended daily amount, which is still a safe level of vitamin D.

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