How do people in Siberia get vitamin D?

December 27, 2025 •

4 min read

In Western Siberia, a population study confirmed widespread vitamin D insufficiency, with over 50% of adults experiencing reduced levels, especially during winter. This stark reality prompts a crucial question: how do people in Siberia get vitamin D when sunlight is scarce for much of the year?

Quick Summary

Siberians historically maintained vitamin D levels through traditional diets rich in fatty fish and marine mammals, supplemented by unique genetic and cultural adaptations. In modern times, supplements and fortified foods are also critical resources, especially as lifestyles change.

Key Points

Traditional Diet: Indigenous Siberians historically relied on diets rich in fatty fish, marine mammals, and organ meats to get vitamin D.
Genetic Adaptation: Some Arctic populations have evolved genetic traits for more efficient absorption, conversion, and transport of vitamin D.
Cultural Practices: Extended breastfeeding and consuming raw or boiled meat were important traditional practices that helped prevent vitamin D deficiency.
Modern Insufficiency: Shifts toward less traditional diets have increased the prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in modern Siberia.
Modern Interventions: Contemporary solutions include dietary fortification, UV light therapy, and vitamin D supplements, which are especially critical during winter.
Limited Sunlight: Due to high latitude, solar UVB radiation is insufficient for skin synthesis of vitamin D during much of the year in Siberia.

The Vitamin D Challenge in the Arctic

Vitamin D is a crucial fat-soluble nutrient that plays a significant role in calcium absorption, bone health, and immune function. While the human body can naturally produce vitamin D from cholesterol when the skin is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation from sunlight, this process is severely limited in high-latitude regions like Siberia. For many months of the year, particularly during the prolonged winter, solar UVB radiation is too weak to stimulate significant vitamin D synthesis in the skin. This environmental constraint has shaped the physiological and cultural adaptations of people living in Siberia and the wider Arctic region for millennia.

Traditional Dietary Adaptations

Indigenous groups across the Eurasian Arctic, including Siberian peoples like the Nenets and Yakuts, developed sophisticated dietary strategies to secure this vital nutrient. Their traditional foods, largely based on what the unforgiving environment could provide, were naturally rich in vitamin D.

Fatty Fish and Marine Mammals: Fish like Arctic char and whitefish, along with seals and other marine mammals, are staple foods that provide substantial amounts of vitamin D, particularly in their oils and organs.
Organ Meats: The livers of cold-water fish and animals contain high concentrations of vitamin D. This makes organ meats a prized and nutritionally dense part of the traditional diet.
Consuming Raw or Boiled Meat: Some studies suggest that the traditional practice of consuming meat raw or only lightly boiled helps preserve an unknown nutritional cofactor that supports bone health independently of vitamin D. This practice, noted among groups like the Samoyed peoples, further contributes to overall nutrient status.
Extended Breastfeeding: For infants, extended breastfeeding for several years provided a critical, consistent source of nutrients, including vitamin D, ensuring proper development.

Genetic Solutions to Scarcity

Beyond dietary and cultural habits, genetic adaptations have played a key role in how some Arctic populations have managed vitamin D scarcity. Natural selection has favored physiological changes that improve the efficiency of vitamin D utilization.

Some genetic adaptations include:

More Efficient Calcium Absorption: A study on Inuit children in northern Canada found they had less need for dietary calcium than Western standards would suggest, excreting excess calcium even on low-calcium diets. This higher uptake of calcium from the intestines reduces the body's overall reliance on high vitamin D levels.
Accelerated Vitamin D Conversion: Some Arctic populations exhibit a higher rate of converting the common form of vitamin D to its most active form, ensuring better use of the limited supply.
Enhanced Carrier Protein Binding: Research on indigenous peoples in Arctic Eurasia, including Siberia, shows a higher frequency of a specific gene variant (GC) associated with stronger binding and higher serum levels of the vitamin D carrier protein. This allows the body to transport and utilize available vitamin D more effectively.

The Modern Vitamin D Landscape in Siberia

Contemporary life has introduced significant changes to the traditional Siberian lifestyle, creating new challenges for vitamin D intake. The shift towards a more globalized, Western-style diet means fewer people rely on traditional, vitamin D-rich foods year-round. This has exacerbated the environmental challenge of limited sunlight and contributed to a rise in vitamin D insufficiency among modern Siberian populations.

To address this, modern Siberians utilize a combination of strategies:

Dietary Fortification: Many common grocery items, such as milk, orange juice, and cereals, are fortified with vitamin D. This helps increase the population's intake through readily available food.
Supplements: Vitamin D supplements, particularly vitamin D3, are widely available and are a common method for ensuring adequate intake, especially during the long, dark winter.
UV Light Therapy: In some areas, particularly among children in the Soviet era, UV light therapy was historically used to boost vitamin D production and address seasonal health issues associated with limited sunlight. While less common for routine use today, it remains a medical option.

Comparison: Traditional vs. Modern vs. Temperate-Zone Approaches


Method of Obtaining Vitamin D	Traditional Siberian	Modern Siberian	Temperate Zone Resident
Primary Source	Diet: Fatty fish, marine mammals, organ meats	Supplementation & Fortified Foods	Sunlight (seasonal)
Role of Genetics	Critical, favoring efficient use of available D	Less defining due to modern interventions	Varies, but less selective pressure for extreme efficiency
Cultural Practices	Raw/boiled meat consumption, extended breastfeeding	Declining, though still practiced in some communities	N/A (not applicable to a temperate climate)
Dependence on Technology	Low reliance on technology	High reliance on supplements, fortification, healthcare	Moderate (supplements in winter)

Conclusion

The ability of people in Siberia to acquire sufficient vitamin D is a testament to the complex interplay of cultural practices, physiological evolution, and modern science. While traditional diets and genetic adaptations have long provided solutions to the harsh environment, contemporary lifestyles and dietary shifts have introduced new challenges. Today, a combination of traditional food consumption, fortified products, and supplements is necessary for many to maintain adequate vitamin D levels, a pattern reflected in public health data showing persistent insufficiency. For a deeper dive into the specific genetic adaptations of Arctic peoples, readers can explore the extensive research compiled in this NIH article: The Problem of Vitamin D Scarcity. Moving forward, a balance between honoring ancestral knowledge and embracing modern nutritional science will be key to ensuring the health and well-being of Siberian populations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Siberia's high latitude means that for several months of the year, the sun's angle is too low for its UVB rays to penetrate the atmosphere effectively. These are the specific rays needed to trigger the skin's vitamin D production.

Historically, Siberians relied on fatty fish like salmon and char, fish liver oil, and marine mammals such as seal and whale for vitamin D. The oils and organs of these animals are particularly rich in the nutrient.

As traditional diets have been replaced by Westernized foods lacking the same nutrient density, vitamin D insufficiency has become more common. A Russian study on the Western Siberian population confirmed a widespread deficiency.

Some indigenous Arctic populations have genetic adaptations that allow their bodies to utilize vitamin D more efficiently. These include better calcium absorption from the gut and enhanced binding of vitamin D to transport proteins in the blood.

For many, especially those who do not follow a traditional diet, supplements are a necessary and common way to ensure adequate vitamin D intake during the long, sun-deprived winter months.

While it was historically used, particularly during the Soviet era, for children in communal settings to compensate for lack of sun exposure, it is less of a routine practice today. Supplements and fortified foods are now more common.

No, genetic adaptations vary across different indigenous groups and are not universally present. Furthermore, the modern Siberian population is diverse and includes people without these specific genetic traits.