Foods high in Vitamin D (D2 + D3)

Vitamin D (D2 + D3) is the fat-soluble nutrient the body needs to absorb calcium and phosphorus and build strong bones; unusually for a vitamin, the body can also make its own from sun exposure on skin. People with limited sun exposure, older adults, people with darker skin tones, exclusively breastfed infants, and people with obesity or conditions that impair fat absorption, such as Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or cystic fibrosis, are more likely to need more from food or supplements. Reading the list below calls for a different expectation than most nutrients: very few foods naturally contain meaningful vitamin D, so the ranking is dominated by fatty and oily fish such as salmon, trout, eel, and carp, along with egg yolks and fish liver oils, plus a scattering of products that are fortified rather than naturally rich in the nutrient, such as fortified milk and infant cereal. That scarcity of natural sources is part of why vitamin D intake from diet alone is difficult for many people, and why fortification and sun exposure both play a larger role for this nutrient than they do for most others on this site.

Adults need about 15.0000 UG/day (age 19-70) — Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, The Nutrition Source (directly fetched); consistent with NIH ODS Vitamin D Health Professional Fact Sheet (corroborated via search, direct fetch blocked 403).