Vitamin D is important because it is converted to the hormone 25-hydroxyvitamin D in the liver. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D is then further converted to 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D in the kidney, and this form is also hormonally active. The active firms of vitamin D regulate cell metabolism and have important health effects, and so maintaining adequate vitamin D is pivotal to health. The best way to improve vitamin D status is through sunlight exposure. However, this is not always possible for various reasons. If sunlight exposure is not available, supplements are perhaps the next best alternative, as they are cheap, and doses can be controlled and modified. Dietary sources of vitamin D are limited, but mushrooms can be a great source of vitamin D if they are exposed to sunlight. Mushrooms generate vitamin D in a similar way to our own skin cells although the form of vitamin D is slightly less bioavailable. The mushrooms can then be frozen to allow preservation of the vitamin D for times when it is needed.
Exposing mushrooms to ultraviolet light can generate significant amounts of vitamin D in the mushrooms.
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