Vitamin D and Calcium Importance

How to get these go-together nutrients

Your need for calcium gets a lot of attention, but your body can’t use it without its partner, vitamin D. Adding key foods to your diet will help you get both, especially when you’re limiting your calories.

Start with salmon, sardines and tuna-fish that have both calcium and vitamin D. For other foods high in calcium, add low-fat milk and yogurt, broccoli, kale, bok choy and other green leafy vegetables.

Vitamin D is added to milk, but it isn’t found naturally in many foods other than egg yolks and shiitake mushrooms, a great vegetable for making low-cal dishes. Many foods are now fortified with vitamin D, calcium or both.

A great option is unsweetened almond milk. Some brands deliver half your daily calcium and a quarter of your vitamin D needs in a 30-calorie, 8-ounce glass.

Always read nutrition labels because the amounts of these nutrients vary by product and by brand. The calcium content must always be listed, but you’re likely to see vitamin D only on foods fortified with it.