Fortified cow’s milk is the single most common drink for getting vitamin D, providing roughly 100 IU per cup (about 240 mL). But it’s far from the only option. Fortified plant milks, orange juice, and drinkable yogurts can all contribute meaningful amounts, and which one works best for you depends on your dietary preferences and how much vitamin D you need each day.
How Much Vitamin D You Need
Most adults between 19 and 70 need 600 IU of vitamin D daily. After age 70, that rises to 800 IU. Children from age 1 through 18 also need 600 IU, while infants need 400 IU. These are the recommended daily amounts set by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and they assume minimal sun exposure. No single glass of any beverage will cover your full daily need, but drinks can form a solid base that you round out with food and sunlight.
Fortified Cow’s Milk
In the United States, most milk is voluntarily fortified with vitamin D at about 1 microgram per 100 grams, which works out to roughly 100 IU per 8-ounce glass. The FDA allows manufacturers to add up to 84 IU per 100 grams. While federal law doesn’t mandate milk fortification, most states do, so nearly all milk you find on grocery shelves contains added vitamin D3.
One practical advantage of cow’s milk is that it contains fat, and vitamin D is fat-soluble. Your body absorbs it more efficiently when fat is present in the same meal. Whole milk delivers that fat built in. If you drink skim or low-fat milk, pairing it with a meal that includes some fat (eggs, avocado, nuts) helps your body pull more vitamin D from the drink. Two to three glasses of fortified milk a day gets you roughly a third to half of your daily target.
Fortified Plant-Based Milks
Soy, almond, oat, and coconut milks can all be fortified with vitamin D, though the amounts vary between brands. The FDA approved the addition of up to 84 IU of vitamin D2 per 100 grams to plant-based beverages intended as milk alternatives in 2016. When fortified, these drinks deliver a comparable amount per glass to cow’s milk.
There’s an important distinction here: plant milks are typically fortified with D2 (from plants or fungi), while cow’s milk uses D3 (from animal sources). Research consistently shows that D3 is more effective at raising blood levels of vitamin D. In one large study, D3 was roughly twice as effective as D2 at increasing serum vitamin D, even when D2 was given at double the dose. This doesn’t mean plant milks are useless for vitamin D. It means you may need to drink a bit more or combine them with other sources to get the same benefit.
Without fortification, plant milks contain essentially zero vitamin D. Always check the nutrition label. If the label doesn’t list vitamin D, assume it’s not there. Brands vary widely, and “original” and “unsweetened” versions of the same brand may differ in their fortification.
Fortified Orange Juice
Fortified orange juice is one of the best non-dairy options for vitamin D, and it comes with a surprising advantage: the vitamin D in orange juice is absorbed just as well as vitamin D from a supplement capsule. A clinical trial published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition tested 1,000 IU of vitamin D in fortified orange juice against 1,000 IU in capsule form over 11 weeks. Blood levels of vitamin D rose equally in both groups, with no statistically significant difference.
Commercially fortified orange juice typically contains around 100 IU per 8-ounce serving, similar to a glass of milk. This makes it a solid choice for people who are lactose intolerant or avoiding dairy entirely. The one thing to watch is sugar content. Orange juice is calorie-dense, so if you’re drinking multiple glasses a day for the vitamin D, you’re also taking in a fair amount of natural sugar.
Drinkable Yogurt and Kefir
Drinkable yogurt and yogurt-based beverages can be fortified with vitamin D3 at doses typically ranging from 90 to 120 IU per 100 grams of product. The FDA also permits plant-based yogurt alternatives to be fortified with up to 89 IU of vitamin D2 per 100 grams. Research on fortified yogurt drinks has shown that they can meaningfully improve vitamin D blood levels over time.
Kefir and drinkable yogurt have an added benefit: they contain probiotics and protein alongside the vitamin D. Like milk, they include some fat (depending on the variety), which supports absorption. Not all brands are fortified, though, so label-reading matters here too.
Why the Type of Vitamin D Matters
You’ll see two forms on labels: vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. Cow’s milk and some yogurt drinks use D3. Plant milks and fortified juices more often use D2. Your body can use both, but D3 is the more potent form. A retrospective study comparing the two found that D3 raised serum vitamin D levels about twice as effectively as D2, and that advantage held even when D2 was given at higher concentrations.
If your primary vitamin D drinks are plant-based and fortified with D2, you can compensate by drinking more, combining several fortified beverages throughout the day, or pairing them with foods naturally rich in D3 like fatty fish and egg yolks.
Getting the Most From What You Drink
Because vitamin D dissolves in fat rather than water, the presence of even a small amount of dietary fat dramatically improves how much your body absorbs. Drinking fortified beverages with a meal is the simplest way to maximize this. A glass of fortified orange juice with breakfast eggs, or a fortified plant milk in a smoothie with nut butter, both create the conditions your gut needs to absorb the vitamin D efficiently.
Relying on beverages alone to hit 600 IU a day is difficult but not impossible. Three glasses of fortified milk or orange juice gets you to roughly 300 IU, which is half the daily target. Adding a fortified yogurt drink pushes that closer to 400 IU. The remaining gap is easily filled by sun exposure, food sources like salmon or fortified cereal, or a small supplement. For people over 70 who need 800 IU, beverages alone are unlikely to cover the full amount, but they still provide a reliable daily foundation.