Oily fish is best for vitamin D content.

Here are a few of the best sources (dairy included for those paleos who
include it)

The number represents Food International Units (IU) per serving

Cod liver oil, 1 Tablespoon 1,360

Salmon, cooked, 3¨ö ounces 360

Mackerel, cooked, 3¨ö ounces 345

Tuna fish, canned in oil, 3 ounces 200

Sardines, canned in oil, drained, 1¨ú ounces 250

Milk, nonfat, reduced fat, and whole, vitamin D fortified, 1 cup  98

Egg, 1 whole (vitamin D is found in egg yolk) 20

Liver, beef, cooked, 3¨ö ounces 15

Cheese, Swiss, 1 ounce 12

I know that a lot of paleos still drink coffee. I also noted that:

¡¯High caffeine intake may accelerate bone loss. Caffeine may inhibit
vitamin D receptors, thus limiting absorption of vitamin D and decreasing
bone mineral density. A study found that elderly postmenopausal women who
consumed more than 300 milligrams per day of caffeine (which is equivalent
to approximately 18 oz of caffeinated coffee) lost more bone in the spine
than women who consumed less than 300 milligrams per day.

However, there is also evidence that increasing calcium intake (by, for
example, adding milk to coffee) can counteract any potential negative
effect that caffeine may have on bone loss. More evidence is needed before
health professionals can confidently advise adults to decrease caffeine
intake as a means of preventing osteoporosis.¡¯

Sounds like black coffee is a bad idea :-(

I seem to remember a similar warning about protecting the gut from the
effects of tannin by adding milk to tea rather than drinking it black.

Don wrote:

>Now I have been taking D for a few years. I had been taking 2000-3000 IU
>per day. For the past year I have been taking 4000 IU a day. I have been
>getting my 25-D tested. A couple weeks ago it was 69. Even with my 4000 a
>day I haven't gotten it too high.

That's fascinating. Do you intend to stay at this level of intake, or are
you thinking of taking it higher?

Although it¡¯s not paleo, I do take supplements to treat specific
disorders. I avoid taking any vitamin supplement in mega-doses, but I¡¯ve
always thought that we probably vary widely in our individual needs for
nutrients. The article you posted makes great reading and I looked further
into the topic of vitamin D toxicity to see how high a dose I could take
without bad effect:

¡®Vitamin D toxicity can cause nausea, vomiting, poor appetite,
constipation, weakness, and weight loss... It can also raise blood levels
of calcium causing mental status changes such as confusion. High blood
levels of calcium also can cause heart rhythm abnormalities. Calcinosis,
the deposition of calcium and phosphate in the body's soft tissues such as
the kidney, can also be caused by vitamin D toxicity.¡¯

Sun exposure is unlikely to result in vitamin D toxicity. Diet is also
unlikely to cause vitamin D toxicity, unless large amounts of cod liver
oil are consumed. Vitamin D toxicity is much more likely to occur from
high intakes of vitamin D in supplements. The Food and Nutrition Board of
the Institute of Medicine has set the tolerable upper intake level (UL)
for vitamin D at 25 ¥ìg (1,000 IU) for infants up to 12 months of age and
50 ¥ìg (2,000 IU) for children, adults, pregnant, and lactating women. Long
term intakes above the UL increase the risk of adverse health effects.¡¯

>But I'm still a couple weeks away from my next bone densiotometry test.

I would be very interested to hear about the results of your test. Please
excuse my ignorance as I¡¯m very new on the list, but are you having a
routine test, or do you have specific problems with your bones?

Cheers,

Persephone

All excerpts taken from:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp