If you’re here, then you probably Google’d: what is the best over the counter vitamin d. This subject along with many others are quite common, we will do our best to answer this and many other similar questions in this article which should ease your mind regarding this subject.
Do You Need To Take A Vitamin D Supplement?
The majority of adults don’t get enough vitamin D from food and sun exposure. You may need a supplement, especially in the non-summer months, if you live in a northern latitude where the sun’s rays are weaker—anywhere north of San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, or Richmond, Virginia, Harvard Health experts say. If you don’t tick those boxes, talk to your doctor, who can check your vitamin D levels with a simple blood test and determine if a supplement is right for you.
How To Choose The Best Vitamin D Supplement
“Both vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 increase levels of the vitamin in the blood, but D3 might lead to a greater and longer increase than D2,” explains Jinan Banna, R.D., Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. Don’t go dose crazy. More isn’t always better, and very high amounts (think, more than 4,000 IU daily) can actually be toxic.
Your doctor can help you decide the right amount for you based on a current blood test. Consider the delivery method. One study found that vitamin D in gummy form may be more absorbent than capsules or tablets.
But if you’d rather just take a pill, you’ll still benefit, Largeman-Roth says. Look for trusted verifications. Choose products that have been verified by independent certifiers, like the US Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) or NSF International, all three experts say.
Either verification ensures that you’re getting the amount of D listed on the product label, without a side of unwanted ingredients or additives.
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However, a number of companies had reached a settlement with the California Attorney General’s office that allows them latitude in how they count lead levels and in these cases the products do not have to have warnings. Still, Consumer Reports continues to believe that it is better to choose products with lower lead levels. (This information has changed from the originally published version.
Click here for a chart that shows average lead levels in supplements we tested.
How Much Vitamin D Should You Be Getting?
Over the past couple of decades, the number of Americans with sufficient levels has decreased. “Adults achieving vitamin D sufficiency has dropped from 60 percent in the early 1990s to 30 percent in the early 2000s,” says Kerry Clifford, a registered dietitian who works for the National Dairy Council, citing a past study of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.
Furthermore, levels of vitamin D sufficiency among African Americans dropped from 10 percent to only 5 percent during the same time period. Those who are nonwhite, obese, or without a college education are at greater risk of not having adequate vitamin D levels. (2)
Drinking less milk (a beverage that has been fortified with vitamin D since the 1930s) and using sunscreen are among the reasons that Vitamin D status in Americans has dropped over the years, says Clifford.
Indeed, the National Institutes of Health notes that deficiency has become more common in men in particular, likely due to rising weight, reduced milk drinking, and more use of sunscreen outdoors. (3)
That drop is a problem because the vitamin can help the gut absorb calcium, which ultimately promotes strong and healthy bones.