Can your body really absorb the vitamin D in fortified orange juice, given that the vitamin dissolves in fat (as in fortified milk) but not water? A new study says it can, adding fortified OJ to the limited list of significant food and beverage sources of vitamin D.A lot of people dont drink milk, commented lead investigator Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD, of Boston University Medical Center, a leading vitamin D scientist and advocate of higher intakes, but they do drink OJ in the morning.Simply adding vitamin D to a food or beverage doesnt guarantee it will be bioavailable-usable by the body. In fact, the lack of fat in orange juice initially led beverage companies to be skeptical whether adding vitamin D to the popular breakfast drink would do any good. Previous research led by Dr. Holick, however, helped convince the makers of Minute Maid and Tropicana to give it a try. But can the body absorb vitamin D from orange juice as readily as from supplements? To find out, Dr. Holick and colleagues recruited about 100 adults and randomly divided them into six groups receiving various combinations of OJ fortified with 1,000 IU of vitamin D2 or D3, supplements of vitamin D2 or D3, and placebo drinks and pills. When blood levels were tested at the start of the study, 64% of participants were deficient in vitamin D. After 11 weeks, all those getting extra vitamin D saw increases in blood levels of the vitamin, and there was no difference between those receiving it in pills or juice.Theres one catch: You cant buy orange juice-or any other food or beverage-with 1,000 IU of vitamin D, because government regulations limit fortification to 100 IU per serving. That may change, however, after the federal dietary guidelines are updated later this year.The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was funded by the National Institutes of Health and by a division of Coca-Cola, which makes Minute Maid. TO LEARN MORE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, June 2010; abstract atwww.ajcn.org/cgi/content/ abstract/91/6/1621
