If you’re here, then you probably Google’d: vitamin d 3 vs d2. 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.
Supplements 101: Vitamin D
It’s a family of nutrients that shares similarities in chemical structure. While both types help you meet your vitamin D requirements, they differ in a few important ways.
Bottom Line.
over the past year.
Allow me to use an analogy to explain. By choosing to share the Olympic gold rather than have a jump-off. They both left Tokyo with gold medals.
Vitamin D3 and D2 are…nothing like that. To wrap my Olympics nutrition visual: Vitamin D3 is on the middle podium with its anthem playing loud and clear, whereas vitamin D2 didn’t medal at all.
What Are The Main Differences Between Vitamin D And D3?
The term vitamin D is kind of a misnomer because you will not find anything labeled simply as “vitamin D” in a pharmacy vitamin aisle.
Rather, your choices will be vitamin D2 (What is vitamin D2?). Or vitamin D3 (What is vitamin D3?). The names can be confusing, because many times, patients go into the pharmacy looking for vitamin D and are surprised that there is a D2 and a D3.
The 50,000 IU capsules are prescription only, while lower strengths are available over-the-counter. When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it produces vitamin D3. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the sunshine vitamin.
Its strength is also measured in international units. All forms of vitamin D3 are available over-the-counter. Ergocalciferol or vitamin D2
Drisdol, Calcidol, Calciferol Cholecalciferol, Vitamin D, Or Vitamin D3
Decara, Dialyvite D3 Max What Form(S) Does The Drug Come In?
Oral Tablets And Capsules, Oral Liquid Solution Oral Tablets And Capsules, Oral Liquid Solution, Sublingual Liquid Solution What Is The Standard Dosage?
Indefinite Indefinite Who Typically Uses The Medication?
Vitamin D3 Comes From Animals, Vitamin D2 From Plants
As we’ve talked about, there are two main types of vitamin D:
Vitamin D2
Vitamin D3
Vitamin D2 is known as ergocalciferol and is found in plants and fungi e.g. You can learn more about supplements suitable for vegans by reading our blog. Vitamin D3 is known as cholecalciferol and is found in animals and animal products, including oily fish like salmon and mackerel.
If you eat animal products, you can buy supplements that contain vitamin D3.