Why Is Vitamin D Not Tracked?

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gardenbird
gardenbird Posts: 29 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • LucyMarks1752
    LucyMarks1752 Posts: 3 Member
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    Following...I'd like to know this too. I have to take supplements every day for VitD
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    gardenbird wrote: »
    I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

    Database entries are crowdsourced from users and vitamin D is only a recent requirement on food labels. Since that's where most users are sourcing their entries from food labels, it won't be included unless it's a pretty recent entry.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    gardenbird wrote: »
    I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

    Database entries are crowdsourced from users and vitamin D is only a recent requirement on food labels. Since that's where most users are sourcing their entries from food labels, it won't be included unless it's a pretty recent entry.

    There's no field in the MFP database records to put vitamin D information, so user behavior or the availability of the information on a label has zero to do with it.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    gardenbird wrote: »
    I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

    Database entries are crowdsourced from users and vitamin D is only a recent requirement on food labels. Since that's where most users are sourcing their entries from food labels, it won't be included unless it's a pretty recent entry.

    There's no field in the MFP database records to put vitamin D information, so user behavior or the availability of the information on a label has zero to do with it.

    It's another one of those new-ish things for which there is a field in the database, editable in at least some phone/tablet versions of MFP, but it may not show up on all pages/reports in all versions.

    r96tc9rhtghr.png
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    Because of the accuracy of the food database, I wouldn't use details like this for medical purposes! 🤯
  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,361 Member
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    I don't track vit d that is in foods, but I do know how many capsules I take a day so I don't need to log them. I take them without fail, I too have osteopenia.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    Ann, is that the app? I don't see it on my desktop.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
    edited July 2021
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Ann, is that the app? I don't see it on my desktop.

    Yes. Android. The new fields seem to appear on some pages in the app, but not the web.

    I didn't test to ensure that the vitamin D field is editable/displayable there (in a limited way at least); but we had a similar conversation recently on another thread about the added sugars field, which a while back I had tested and found to be editable, and to display in limited places in the app.

    They don't seem to display on the web, though I haven't tested every page exhaustively. (I was casually curious about how far things had gone to implement the new fields, but not *that* interested. 😆)

    ETA: I have no idea whether the fields behave in the Apple app was they do in Android, but assume they do, as Apple MFP usually gets updates ahead of Android, if the timing differs. Of course, I can't speak for all Android versions either, just the one I use.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    edited July 2021
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    Interesting. I only use desktop and we don't have it yet. The discussion re added sugars wasn't with me, but I read it, and I think desktop in general doesn't have the new label info and it seems like the app (or at least the Android app) does.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    Interesting. I only use desktop and we don't have it yet. The discussion re added sugars wasn't with me, but I read it, and I think desktop in general doesn't have the new label info and it seems like the app (or at least the Android app) does.

    I use both routinely, though mostly in slightly different ways.

    In some areas, web and apps differ a great deal: There are whole feature sets in the apps but not on the web, in addition to many things just looking different.

    It leads to some communication confusion on the forum or friend-feeds sometimes.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
    edited July 2021
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    gardenbird wrote: »
    I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

    Database entries are crowdsourced from users and vitamin D is only a recent requirement on food labels. Since that's where most users are sourcing their entries from food labels, it won't be included unless it's a pretty recent entry.

    There's no field in the MFP database records to put vitamin D information, so user behavior or the availability of the information on a label has zero to do with it.

    It's another one of those new-ish things for which there is a field in the database, editable in at least some phone/tablet versions of MFP, but it may not show up on all pages/reports in all versions.

    r96tc9rhtghr.png

    Thanks. The app stopped working on my phone a couple/few months back, and the vitamin D field isn't showing up when I try to create or edit a food database entry on the website.

    I'm shocked MFP has managed to make a positive change in the database AND not have unintended side effects that completely outweigh the benefit of the positive change. I don't think I'm on the whole a cynical, pessimistic person, but on this subject ...


    ** ETA: I think my point is still valid that for the vast majority of existing records in the database, it's not appropriate to suggest that the lack of vitamin D information is the fault of the user who created the entry, since the probably is extremely high that there was no field to place that information when they created the entry.
  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
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    Percentage of daily value are based on an intake of 400 IU, at least here in Canada, it may be different in the states. Some studies suggest you may need 1000 IU of Vitamin D per day. So getting enough Vit D from foods would be difficult for the average person. Unless you eat a lot of dairy and fish.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,166 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    gardenbird wrote: »
    I've noticed that vitamin D on many of my food items is not included. Does anyone know why that is? I've recently been diagnosed with osteopenia and vitamin D and calcium are very important right now for tracking. I was just wondering! Thanks in advance!

    Database entries are crowdsourced from users and vitamin D is only a recent requirement on food labels. Since that's where most users are sourcing their entries from food labels, it won't be included unless it's a pretty recent entry.

    There's no field in the MFP database records to put vitamin D information, so user behavior or the availability of the information on a label has zero to do with it.

    It's another one of those new-ish things for which there is a field in the database, editable in at least some phone/tablet versions of MFP, but it may not show up on all pages/reports in all versions.

    r96tc9rhtghr.png

    Thanks. The app stopped working on my phone a couple/few months back, and the vitamin D field isn't showing up when I try to create or edit a food database entry on the website.

    I'm shocked MFP has managed to make a positive change in the database AND not have unintended side effects that completely outweigh the benefit of the positive change. I don't think I'm on the whole a cynical, pessimistic person, but on this subject ...


    ** ETA: I think my point is still valid that for the vast majority of existing records in the database, it's not appropriate to suggest that the lack of vitamin D information is the fault of the user who created the entry, since the probably is extremely high that there was no field to place that information when they created the entry.

    Couldn't agree more. Even beyond that, I haven't looked up the US regs, but my best guess would be that Vitamin D may be a non-required label item, as some of the other micros seem to be. Even then, it's just US AFAIK.

    OP, speaking as a person who's also osteoporotic, and who lives in the North, I completely understand where you're coming from.

    I'm not saying this is what you should do - circumstances are individual - but what I do is supplement D and calcium at reasonable levels, and ask my primary care doctor (not my osteoporosis specialist whom I see less often) to order a vitamin D blood test now and then to check blood levels.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
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    Mellouk89 wrote: »
    Percentage of daily value are based on an intake of 400 IU, at least here in Canada, it may be different in the states. Some studies suggest you may need 1000 IU of Vitamin D per day. So getting enough Vit D from foods would be difficult for the average person. Unless you eat a lot of dairy and fish.

    Agree that it's difficult to get enough from food alone. I use nutritiondata.com for micronutrients. It is not user sourced. It's based on USDA and hence more accurate.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,964 Member
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    OP, did the medical professional who made the diagnosis make any suggestion about supplementing vitamin D? My doctor advised taking 400 IU just based on low blood levels, even without any diagnosed medical condition.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,898 Member
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    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    OP, did the medical professional who made the diagnosis make any suggestion about supplementing vitamin D? My doctor advised taking 400 IU just based on low blood levels, even without any diagnosed medical condition.

    Yes, my doctor also advised I supplement simply based on low levels with no additional medical condition.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited July 2021
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    While vit D is super important, I'm OK with it not being tracked here. I get tested and manage through supplementation and time outside. I don't think tracking in food would help much since it's in very few foods in consequential levels, and it is highly variable. How wild was your salmon :/ Farmed salmon has a markedly lower D contribution.

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