When you read the label of a vitamin package, it should provide dosing information, including how much to take and whether to take it with a meal. Often, vitamin D supplements or multivitamins containing vitamin D say you can take them with or without food. But which option is best?
With or Without A Meal?
Nutrition experts recommend eating vitamin D with food because that makes it easier for the body to absorb vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it’s easiest to absorb into your body if you eat it with foods that contain some healthy fats.
You can take vitamin D without food, but your body absorbs it more effectively when you take it with a meal or a snack. Recommendations can vary, though, on what to eat with vitamin D and which meal to take it with.
Which Meal?
Now that you know it’s best to take vitamin D with food, you might wonder if it matters which meal you take it with. There isn’t a lot of evidence saying that taking vitamin D with one meal is better than another. This can vary for individuals, though.
Some research indicates that taking vitamin D can improve sleep quality, but researchers are not yet sure whether it’s best to take vitamin D early or late in the day. You might want to experiment with taking vitamin D with breakfast one week and with dinner another week to see if there is any impact on your sleep.
What Kind of Meal?
Because vitamin D is fat-soluble, it is often recommended that you take vitamin D with a high-fat meal. However, one small study indicates vitamin D absorption is best with a low-fat meal rather than a high-fat meal (Dawson-Hughes et al., 2013). Another small study found improved vitamin D absorption when taking supplements with the largest meal of the day (Mulligan & Licata, 2010).
More research is needed, but it might be best to take vitamin D with a large meal that contains some healthy fat, but not necessarily a large amount of fat. Healthy fats include avocado, olives, seeds, nuts, beans, eggs, and fatty fish. If you are taking vitamin D for bone health, it is also important to take it with vitamin K at the same time.
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