Vitamin D content of pork increased 3X with about 10 hours of noonday sun

Created November 2017

Sun exposure in pigs increases the vitamin D nutritional quality of pork.

PLoS One. 2017 Nov 14;12(11):e0187877. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187877. eCollection 2017.

* about 10 hours of noonday sun increased Vitamin D levels in lean pork to 40 IU/100 grams* What if pigs were to get say 300 hours of noonday sun or UV lighting * might the pork have 1000 IU per 100 grams? . * Adding indoor ultraviolet lighting is very inexpensive, but currently is not permitted by the FDA.* Would only need to switch out 10% of standard indoor lighting with UV fluorescent tubes* Strangely the FDA permitted reducing Vitamin D by raising pigs, chickens, etc indoors but does not permit increasing the Vitamin D back to what it had been* A slice of pie had about 2,000 IU – when made with lard from pigs raised outdoors * most places 100 years ago, or a few places now* Described in 5-minute video Does Less Sun mean More Disease* Study states that people get <20% of their vitamin D from food. * Suspect that food provided about 50% of vitamin D back when* animals were raised outdoors,* meat had more fat and people ate the fat* people used lard for baking pies, cakes, cookies, etc.* people ate organ meats,* people ate meat from wild animals,* people ate oily fish 1. See also Vitamin D Life* Vitamin D home fortification- don't wait 100 years for your govt* You can fortify almost any of your food with Vitamin D - lard, jams, orange juice, milk, etc* Increases vitamin D for entire family without having each member of the family remember to take a daily pill* Vitamin D can fortify a variety of food and drinks – even beer – March 2012* Improved health due to vitamin D fortification in Finland* Vitamin D fortification of edible oils in India starting in 2017* Vitamin D produced in pigskin by 296 nmeter UV-LEDs – May 2016* Imagine having 297 nmeter UV light in the ceiling of indoor pig farms* Danes opposed to Vitamin D fortification, will get more COPD, diabetes, depression, lupus, leg pain, etc – Oct 2015* Timeline of Heart Disease, Diabetes, fats, lard, HFCS, and vitamin D – Aug 2012* "Free range" lard has 500 IU vitamin D per teaspoon* Feed chicken lots of vitamin D, get 6000 IU per egg with no change in production – Nov 2013* Improvements were found in every single aspect, but not permitted by the US govt.* US Govt does not permit fortification beyond the amount which has been proven to be needed (400 IU Vitamin D to stop rickets)* Swine with extra vitamin D more likely to get pregnant and have more and larger piglets – June 2012

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Larson-Meyer DE 1 [email protected], Ingold BC 1, Fensterseifer SR 2, Austin KJ 2, Wechsler PJ 3, Hollis BW 4, Makowski AJ 5, Alexander BM 2.

1 Department of Family and Consumer Sciences (Human Nutrition), University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, United States of America.

2 Department of Animal Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, United States of America.

3 Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, United States of America.

4 Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, United States of America.

5 Heartland Assays, Ames, Iowa, United States of America.

There is a high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency worldwide likely because of both limited sun-exposure and inadequate dietary intake. Meat, including pork, is not typically considered a dietary source of vitamin D, possibly because of management practices that raise pigs in confinement. This experiment determined the vitamin D content of loin and subcutaneous adipose tissue in sun-exposed finisher pigs. Two separate groups of pigs were used. The first group (28 white Landrace-Duroc) was assigned at random to either sunlight exposure (SUN) in spring and summer or confinement per standard practice (Control). The second (24 Yorkshire-Duroc-Landrace) underwent the same exposure protocol but was exposed in summer and fall or assigned to control (Control). A subsample of five SUN and four Control pigs, matched for weight and body condition score, was selected for slaughter from each group. Pigs (n = 10 SUN, n = 8 Control) had blood drawn for analysis of 25(OH)D3 concentration before/after sun exposure or control, and tissue samples were taken at slaughter for analysis of tissue vitamin D3 and 25(OH)D3 concentration. Three random samples from a single loin chop and surrounding adipose were collected and analyzed. Serum concentrations of 25(OH)D3 did not differ (P≥0.376) between treatments prior to sun exposure in either group, but was increased (time*treatment interaction, P<0.001) with SUN exposure. Total vitamin D content (D3 plus 25(OH)D3) of loin tissue was increased (P < 0.001) with sun exposure and averaged 0.997±0.094 μg/100g and 0.348±0.027 μg/100g for sun and control pigs, respectively. While exposure to sunlight increased (P = 0.003) tissue content of 25(OH) D in subcutaneous adipose tissue, vitamin D3 content was similar between treatments (P = 0.56). Sunlight exposure in pigs increased the vitamin D content of loin, and may provide an additional source of dietary vitamin D.

PMID: 29136033 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187877

Note that the pigs got an equivalent of only about 10 sunny hours out of 14 days (1 hour for 14 days)

Redline added by Vitamin D Life

These pigs were raised in Wyoming ( latitude: 40 degrees)

Can expect far more vitamin D if the same experiment were to be made in Florida ( latitude: 25 degrees)

Note: A few years ago you could buy pasture-raised lard from Florida pigs

Tags: Food sources