This isn’t an easy topic to write about nor is it an easy topic to find information about since it’s quite complex.
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. Its strength is typically measured in international units, which is abbreviated as “IU” on labeling. When your skin is exposed to sunlight, it produces vitamin D3.
For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as the sunshine vitamin.
Main Differences Between Vitamin D And D3 Vitamin D2 Vitamin D3 Drug Class Vitamin D Analog Vitamin D Analog Brand/Generic Status Brand And Generic Available Brand And Generic Available What Is The Generic Name?
What Is The Brand Name?
Indefinite Indefinite Who Typically Uses The Medication?
What Is Vitamin D?
It is actually the only vitamin of the 13 essential vitamins that your body can manufacture on its own.
What’S The Difference Between Vitamin D And Vitamin D3?
The body can’t manufacture vitamin D2. Vitamin D3 is found in animal sources of foods, like fatty fish and fish oil, liver, organ meats, and egg yolks.
Similarities between vitamin D2 and vitamin D3
While their chemical makeup and sources differ, vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 have much more in common. Recent studies involving daily doses of vitamin D2 and vitamin D3 show that they are equally effective in boosting your vitamin D levels. Thus, the type of vitamin D you get is less important than getting the right dose and making sure your levels are in the right range to avoid deficiency.
If you want to see what your vitamin D levels are like, take the Everlywell Vitamin D Test—an easy at-home option that lets you conveniently collect a sample at home and send it to a lab for accurate testing (a prepaid shipping label is included with the kit). Accessed February 15, 2021. Nair R, Maseeh A. Vitamin D: The “sunshine” vitamin.
Vitamin D2 vs. D3: Which Should I Take for Bone Health?. Accessed February 15, 2021. Safety of 50,000-100,000 Units of Vitamin D3/Week in Vitamin D-Deficient, Hypercholesterolemic Patients with Reversible Statin Intolerance.
Supplements 101: Vitamin D
It’s a family of nutrients that shares similarities in chemical structure. In your diet, the most commonly found members are vitamin D2 and D3. While both types help you meet your vitamin D requirements, they differ in a few important ways.
Research even suggests that vitamin D2 is less effective than vitamin D3 at raising blood levels of vitamin D. This article sums up the main differences between vitamin D2 and D3.