You May Start Seeing More Vitamin D Added to Your Favorite Cereal—Here's Why

As cold and flu season is in full swing, you may be looking to maximize your intake of nutrients that can help keep your immune system in shape. One such nutrient is vitamin D. To make it even more available, the Food and Drug Administration just greenlighted another solution.

The FDA recently gave cereal companies approval to increase fortification levels of vitamin D in your cereal and grain-based bars. This comes as a response to a petition filed by the Kellogg Company three years ago as part of their Better Days Promise campaign, where the company committed to a mission of positively impacting billions of people worldwide. Through this strategy, they plan on improving public health through their cereals and bars by adding nutrients most people aren't getting enough of, like vitamin D.

According to a press release from Kellogg Company, more than 90% of Americans do not consume the recommended amount of vitamin D in their daily eating patterns. This proves to be a global problem as well, with half of the world population noted to have vitamin D insufficiency.

Vitamin D provides several nutritional benefits, contributing to healthy immune function, healthy bones, lower inflammation levels and more. Not to mention, being deficient in vitamin D can lead to some undesirable symptoms like high blood pressure, higher fracture risk and feelings of depression.

There are many ways you can give your body a healthy dose of vitamin D, from regular sun exposure to eating naturally vitamin D-rich foods like milk, yogurt, eggs, tuna, sardines and salmon. So while you don't need fortified cereals or bars to reach your daily dose of vitamin D, it could help make things easier if you're struggling to meet your needs.

"Now, everyday foods, like cereal and grain-based bars, can go even further toward helping people access and consume vitamin D, creating better days for 3 billion people by the end of 2030," says Nigel Hughes, Kellogg Company's SVP of global R&D and innovation, in the company's press release.

With a high percentage of Americans not consuming enough vitamin D, fortified foods may help decrease rates of deficiency within the population. If you have questions about how to meet your vitamin D needs, talk to your doctor or registered dietitian to decide the best way to increase your intake.

Up next: What Happens to Your Body When You Take a Multivitamin Every Day